Retailers post tepid June, start to discount more

NEW YORK • Americans didn’t go on many shopping sprees in June, resulting in sluggish sales for many retailers. It often took deeply discounted clothing to get shoppers to spend — and then only if they needed it. The lackluster performance, being compared with a weak June 2009, is raising concerns about the back-to-school shopping season and the health of the economic recovery. “My sense is that the consumer is very cautious at this stage given the state of the labor market, the housing market,”...