A recent report by IDEX Online shows that the growth in US sales of jewelry and watches in June, at 0.8, “dropped to its lowest level in two years.” In June, the US annual inflation rate hit 9.1% – the highest since November 1981. Consumer spending generally “was higher than predicted, at 1.1%.”
Growth in sales for May has been revised down to 5.% year-on-year. The April figure has also been revised down to 14.2% year-on-year.
The good news is that sales of watches and jewelry are still growing. Jewelry sales rose 0.9% while watch sales were up 0.4% during June, an average increase of 0.8% year-on-year.
IDEX Online has added that given the revised figure for May, their “mild optimism may have been misplaced, especially when we see that June’s sales growth was barely above zero. Usual factors – war, sanctions, inflation and Covid all still apply.”
