Consumer spending on manufactured products rebounded in June, gaining 0.5 percent after a 0.4 percent decline the previous month, but remained unchanged from their level a year ago.

Spending on durable goods rose 1.1 percent in June which was a welcome result after a contraction of 0.8 percent in May. When including transportation equipment, spending on durables was up 3.0 percent.

Consumers also paid 3.5 percent more for energy in June, driven in part by an increase in fuel consumption. Price increases for energy have for the most part been mild, and it will be something to keep an eye on in coming months.

Spending on food declined for a second straight month. After increasing 3.6 percent in April, spending fell 0.3 percent in May and 0.9 percent in June. In the second quarter, however, spending rose 1.7 percent, the biggest gain since the third quarter of 2020.

As a result, overall consumer spending increased 0.6 percent in June from 0.1 percent in May and was 0.9 percent higher than June of last year.

Today's results, while positive, don't quite make a case yet for French consumers going on a spending binge. Still, with the positive GDP results, the second quarter turned out to be a bit better than expected.

Consumption of manufactured goods by consumers is an indicator of consumer spending for household durable goods such as autos and furniture. The data are released separately as part of the report on total goods spending.

This indicator is a measure of retail sales and is unique to France. It measures consumer spending for household durable goods such as autos and furniture. The data are seasonally and workday adjusted. These adjustments eliminate the fluctuations that are solely due to changes in the number of working days. The data appear to be particularly sensitive to the number of worked Saturdays. With consumer spending a large part of the economy, market players continually monitor spending patterns. Retail sales are a measure of consumer well-being.

The pattern in consumer spending is often the foremost influence on stock and bond markets. For stocks, strong economic growth translates to healthy corporate profits and higher stock prices. For bonds, the focus is whether economic growth goes overboard and leads to inflation. Ideally, the economy walks that fine line between strong growth and excessive (inflationary) growth.

Retail sales not only give you a sense of the big picture, but also the trends among different types of retailers. Perhaps auto sales are especially strong or apparel sales are showing exceptional weakness. These trends from the retail sales data can help you spot specific investment opportunities, without having to wait for a company's quarterly or annual report.