July’s strong [retail sales] results are consistent with a confident consumer. Households are in good shape with spending and that should continue as long as the labor market remains healthy. But it’s important to remember that today’s data is looking backward at what was happening a month ago. The impact of volatile financial markets and increased trade tensions in recent weeks may put a wind of caution in consumer spending as we move forward in 2019.

National Retail Federation chief economist Jack Kleinhenz, in a statement the organization issued late last week after the July retail sales report showed an increase of 0.9 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis (5.6 percent unadjusted).