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Consumer spending is actually healthier than it appeared in the July report. July sales dipped 0.6% after Amazon Prime Day was moved to June this year. But while e-commerce sales dropped 2.2%, sales excluding e-commerce, motor vehicles and gasoline rose 0.4%. In-store sales were especially strong, rising 0.4% as well. Clothing sales surged 1.9%, and most other categories of retail sales showed positive growth as well, with the exception of electronics stores, which declined 0.5% after the strong online sales in June.
