Last Friday’s Census Bureau report on July retail sales for the nation brought a welcome dose of good news, but it also underlined some concerns for the future.

Starting with the good news, sales for July rose above June’s tally by 1.2%. But that was just part of it. Of greater importance, perhaps, is that July 2020’s sales exceeded the July 2019 level by 2.7%. Many people would be very surprised to learn that sales activity is better now than it was a year ago.