The Wall Street Journal recently interviewed thirteen economists on the recent increase in Retail Sales, here are a few comments:

Retail sales were boosted in July by autos and gasoline – and that’s mostly it. Ex-auto and gas sales dropped for the second time in three months, and had bad breadth — only 3 of 11 retail categories rose on the month (eating/drinking, non-stores, miscellaneous). – Jonathan Basile, Credit Suisse

Today’s retail sales report is the logical reflection of an economy having households riddled with doubt regarding income, employment, and the valuation of their main assets – homes and equities. Consumers pulled back on spending in July in all categories with the exception of autos and gasoline – and energy prices have since come off. – Steven Blitz, Majestic Research

The most notable drag on spending continues to be persistent weakness in the heavily weighted grocery store component, which accounted for 13% of overall retail sales in July and 20% of retail control. Grocery store sales fell 0.3% in July, a fifth straight decline for a 4.3% annualized drop over this period. Food prices in the CPI report have risen 0.9% annualized over this period, so the decline is even bigger in real terms. – Ted Wieseman, Morgan Stanley

As long as the deleveraging process is ongoing, and it remains most certainly ongoing, consumer spending will be limited. We are fond of saying that in the medium term, the paying down of and defaulting on debt is a positive. It will help lay the groundwork for more sustainable growth in the future. But in the immediate, the process is painful, it limits output and quite frankly, its just no fun at all. – Dan Greenhaus, Miller Taba

The consumer is simply not in a position to drive the recovery and we expect more deleveraging ahead. While the labor market continues to tread water, people will remain cautious and hold off from any big ticket purchases. – David Semmens, Standard Chartered Bank

Bottom line: Households are as spooked as the private business sector. Government policies and legislation have caused all three to pull in their horns since the first of 2010, households are spending less and saving more; businesses are reluctant to hire and reserving their capital to equipment replacement purchase not expansion. While the public sector has benefited greatly by the stimulus the private sector is waiting to see tangible evidence to bet on the future, parked on wait and see.