Spend thrifts: Americans cut back their spending at stores and restaurants last month, a sign that they remain cautious despite robust job growth in the past year, The Associated Press reports. Retail sales fell 0.3% in June, the Commerce Department announced this morning, the weakest showing since February’s harsh winter weather kept shoppers indoors. That followed a robust 1% jump in May, though that was revised down from a previous estimate of 1.2%. Economists had expected that consumers would rein in their spending after May’s large gain. But the reversal was much sharper than projected. Economists watch the retail sales report closely because it provides the first indication each month of the willingness of Americans to spend. Consumer spending drives 70% of the economy. Read the full story.
Ready. Aim: Some of Japan’s biggest companies, best known for motorcycles, washing machines and laptop computers, are pitching a new line of global products: military hardware. As The New York Times reports, the hardware includes quiet-running attack submarines, amphibious search-and-rescue planes and ship-mounted radar systems that use lasers to help pinpoint approaching enemies. After a ban on weapons exports that the Japanese government had maintained for nearly 50 years, Mitsubishi, Kawasaki, Hitachi, Toshiba and other military contractors in the semi-pacifist island nation are cautiously but unmistakably telling the world they are open for business. Read the full story.
Cornering the market: The wave of consolidation that swept the U.S. airline industry has markedly reduced competition at many of the nation’s major airports, and passengers appear to be paying the price in higher fares and fees, an Associated Press analysis has found. Over the past decade, mega-mergers reduced nine large U.S. airlines to four—American, United, Delta and Southwest—with the result that travelers are increasingly finding their home airport dominated by just one or two players. Over the same period, domestic airfares rose faster than inflation, and analysts believe one leading factor is the decline in competitive pressure. At 40 of the 100 largest U.S. airports, a single airline controls a majority of the market, as measured by the number of seats for sale, up from 34 airports a decade earlier. At 93 of the top 100, one or two airlines control a majority of the seats, an increase from 78 airports. Read the full story.
