The U.S. Census Bureau has released the retail sales figures for July. Investors and economists have been looking for the consumer to drive the economy, particularly as about 70% of gross domestic product comes from the consumer spending component.

Thursday’s Census report showed that the preliminary estimates for U.S. retail and food services sales for July rose by 0.6% from the prior month on a seasonally adjusted basis to some $446.5 billion. This reading was actually up by 2.4% from the July 2014 reading. It was also 0.1% higher than the Bloomberg consensus of 0.5%.

Excluding autos, retail sales in July were up by 0.4%, versus the 0.4% expected for the month.

Total sales for the May 2015 through July 2015 period were up 2.3% from the same period a year ago. The May 2015 to June 2015 change was revised from -0.3% to virtually unchanged.

Retail trade sales were up 0.6% from June 2015, and they were 1.6% above last year. Food services and drinking places were up a whopping 9.0% from July of 2014. Motor vehicle and parts dealers reported that sales were up a sharp 6.9% from the same time in 2014.

The advance estimates are from approximately 4,900 retail and food services firms, which are said to account for approximately 60% of the MARTS dollar volume estimate.

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