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The Commerce Department reported on Friday that U.S. retail sales fell by more than expected in July, marking their largest decline in over a year and suggesting consumer spending has cooled following a strong first half of 2026. The value of retail purchases decreased 0.6%, the sharpest fall since May 2025, while sales excluding autos and gasoline declined 0.2%. Five of the 13 tracked categories recorded lower sales. The weakness was led by nonstore retailers, including online businesses such as Amazon, where receipts fell 2.2% in their biggest decline since the start of 2025. Sales at motor vehicle and parts dealers dropped 1.8%. In contrast, spending at restaurants and bars — the report’s only service-sector category and an indicator of discretionary demand — increased 0.5%. The underlying figures also pointed to softer household spending. Control-group sales, which exclude food services, auto dealers, building materials stores, and gas stations, and feed into the government’s calculation of goods spending for GDP, fell 0.4%, their largest decline since the beginning of 2025.

 

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The Ebola outbreak in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) – the fastest-growing on record and on track to become the deadliest – is killing one person every 30 minutes. The epidemic is doubling about every 20 days, Tom Fletcher, the United Nations’ Under-Secretary-General for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, said. “Ebola is winning in the Democratic Republic of the Congo,” Fletcher said. “We cannot let the virus outrun our response . . . We need speed, scale and solidarity before this virus gets even further ahead of us.” ”

 

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Bloomberg

Healthcare data giant Epic Systems is facing an antitrust investigation by the Federal Trade Commission, two sources familiar with the matter have told Reuters. Verona, ​Wisconsin-based Epic holds the medical records of hundreds of millions of Americans and its products are used by healthcare providers that collectively treat more ⁠than 280 million people in the U.S. The sources say the agency has sent ​investigative demands to others in the sector seeking information about how Epic grants or withholds data access.

 

Reuters

StubHub has reported a roughly $40,000 quarterly loss attributable to common stockholders, or zero cents per share, compared with analysts’ expectations for an 11-cent-per-share profit, after expenses jumped 37% and more than offset a 33% increase in revenue. The ticket reseller faced complaints from World Cup customers over fraudulent tickets, denied entry, replacement tickets, and delayed refunds, with chief executive Eric Baker acknowledging that some fans had problems and citing additional complexity from FIFA’s mobile-ticketing system as StubHub handled 75 matches in roughly two weeks. Shares fell 16% following the results, leaving the stock nearly 70% below its $23.50 IPO price from last September.

 

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U.S. consumer sentiment has fallen for the first time in three months as households grew more concerned about worsening business conditions, the economic outlook, and persistent inflation. The University of Michigan’s preliminary consumer sentiment index dropped to 51 in August from 55.2 in July, below the 55 reading expected by economists surveyed by Bloomberg. Inflation expectations have also increased, with consumers expecting prices to rise 4.3% over the next year, up slightly from July and remaining well above levels recorded before the Iran conflict began in February. Longer-term expectations showed consumers anticipating annual price growth of 3.3% over the next five to 10 years. The deterioration in sentiment was widespread, but was particularly pronounced among older and lower-income consumers, as well as those without a college degree, groups that the University of Michigan said are especially vulnerable to the loss of purchasing power caused by inflation. Expectations for both the short- and long-term economic outlook weakened after improving during the previous two months.

 

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Jane Street reported a $15bn loss in July, primarily due to volatility in AI stocks that affected its investment in the hedge fund Situational Awareness. The New York-based trading firm disclosed the loss to lenders while restructuring its $11bn public debt to private investors, including Pimco. Despite the setback, Jane Street generated over $40bn in net trading revenues in the year leading up to the loss.

 

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The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is dropping a subpoena enforcement action against Nike, saying the footwear company has complied with requests for information as part of an investigation into its diversity and inclusion policies. The agency said it was investigating whether Nike intentionally discriminated against white employees ​and job applicants, including by disproportionately targeting them for layoffs, and that it required the information to determine whether Nike violated the law. An EEOC spokesperson said the agency is “pleased the company complied without a court order after the filing of our subpoena enforcement action,” but declined to provide more details. Dropping the subpoena action does not mean the agency has concluded its investigation.

 

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Stellantis is considering the closure and sale of its Brampton, Ontario, plant, according to Canadian autoworkers union Unifor. "This potential ​closure highlights the dangerous repercussions of the ongoing auto tariffs imposed by the Trump administration," the union said, adding ⁠that it would discuss the matter in upcoming contract negotiations with the automaker.

 

Reuters

Swedish trade union IF Metall is ​calling off its three-year dispute with Tesla after the ‌carmaker bought out all the union's striking members at the company. "This means that the conflict no longer has any effect," the union said. The dispute started in October 2023 when Tesla ​mechanics went on strike as the union demanded collective ⁠agreements with the automaker, which does ​not have manufacturing facilities in Sweden, but whose electric cars are serviced by IF Metall union members. "We can conclude that Tesla is so strongly opposed ​to collective agreements that they would rather buy out employees ​who are members of the union than give them safe conditions," IF Metall ‌observed.

 

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Reuters

In his inaugural address to the Justice Department workforce, Attorney General Todd Blanche vowed to make the department “more faithful to its highest ideals than when I found it.” CNN says Blanche’s speech sought to steady a workforce that has been hit by firings, backlash in court and claims of political dealing on the president’s behalf. “I promise you that I will lead this department with integrity,” Blanche said. “I promise you that I will focus on our core mission, which is to uphold the rule of law fairly and impartially, to keep this great country safe, and to protect the rights of every citizen in this country.” He told DOJ employees that disagreement is “extraordinarily healthy,” but said the department works best when staff “execute the decided plan as one team, one mission, one goal.”

 

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A nationwide ban on the breeding, slaughter and sale of dogs for ‌meat takes full effect in South Korea in February 2027. In a poll released just before the legislation ​passed in 2024, more than 90% of 2,000 respondents said they had no intention of eating dog meat in future, and more than 80% said they supported ⁠a ban. ⁠Nearly 95% said they had not ⁠eaten dog meat during the previous ​year. Restaurant owner Lee Kang-chun, who has spent 37 years in the trade at the Moran ‌Market in Seongnam, once one of Korea's best-known hubs for dog meat, lamented the ban. "When I see elderly people come all this way and leave because there's no dog meat left, it nearly brings me to tears," he said.

 

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