US Watch and Jewelry Sales Dip in June Ahead of Tariffs
August 04, 25
(IDEX Online) - Watch and jewelry sales in the US slipped into negative growth during June - down 1.7 per cent - after 19 months of almost uninterrupted increases.
The decline, after such a prolonged positive period, reflects growing concern over the impact of US reciprocal tariffs which came into force on 1 August, along with broader economic uncertainty in the market and higher gold prices.
Meanwhile the US Department of Commerce has made significant changes to figures published last month. Sales for May have been revised down from +2.8 per cent to +0.7 per cent, based on actual transactions rather than estimates, and April is down from +2.3 per cent to +1.8 per cent.
The original figures indicated that things were better than they actually were, especially after a number of months when monthly sales increases were hovering just above zero. The June dip appears to signal a downturn ahead of the 1 August implementation of tariffs.
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