Dive Summary:

• According to statistics from Retail Metrics, retail sales throughout the U.S. grew 4.1% for same-store sales in June.
• The increase is the largest sales boost since January of 2013 for U.S. retailers, with discounters doing especially well.
•  "An improving labour market coupled with falling gas prices during the month, seasonably warmer temperatures that drove summer clearance, rising home prices and generally better macroeconomic conditions," says president of Retail Metrics Ken Perkins.

From the article:

A separate account of retail sales from Thomson Reuters also showed companies beating Wall Street forecasts. Predictions of a 3.8 per cent sales increase when including drug stores and a 4.8 per cent surge without them proved inaccurate. Thomson Reuters calculated that the 11 retailers in its roundup enjoyed a 4.2 per cent uptick with drugstores and a 5 per cent rise without.