Federal Retail Sales Data For Restaurants Show First Decline In Seven Months In August

Eating and drinking place sales declined to a seasonally adjusted $64.1 billion in August, the first decline since December 2018, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s monthly Retail Sales reports. Sales had been setting records for months; they total $64.9 billion in July, so the drop in August amounts to a 1.2% decline….