Consumers opening their wallets as pandemic restrictions ease
CBSN
Americans continued and even increased their spending last month, shifting from expenditures on sporting equipment and building materials, in heavy demand during the pandemic, to restaurant outings and buying electronics.
U.S. retail sales rose a seasonal adjusted 0.6% in June from the month before, the U.S. Commerce Department said Friday. The increase was a surprise to Wall Street analysts, who had expected sales to fall slightly last month. Excluding autos, sales leapt 1.3% in June. The rise came as pandemic-related restrictions loosened across the country, with sales at bars and restaurants up 2.3%, according to Friday's report. Clothing store sales rose by 2.6%, and sales at electronics shops were up 3.3%.Ashley White received her earliest combat action badge from the United States Army soon after the first lieutenant arrived in Afghanistan. The silver military award, recognizing soldiers who've been personally engaged by an attacker during conflict, was considered an achievement in and of itself as well as an affirming rite of passage for the newly deployed. White had earned it for using her own body to shield a group of civilian women and children from gunfire that broke out in the midst of her third mission in Kandahar province. All of them survived. She never mentioned the badge to anyone in her battalion.