“The Fiserv Small Business Index provides timely and granular insight into consumer spending at small businesses, which is often a bellwether for the broader economy,” said Jennifer LaClair, Head of Merchant Solutions at Fiserv in a statement. “Following modest declines in June, consumer spending rebounded nicely in July to help many small businesses start the second half of the year strong.”

Industry Breakdowns

Digging deeper into the index, there are clear trend patterns indicating which industries are thriving. For example, professional, scientific and technical services continue seeing significant growth in sales (+15.2%) and transactions (+13.9%) year over year. On a monthly basis, utilities (+6.2%) and hospitals (+5.7%) were the fastest-growing small business categories.

National retail sales increased by 4.6% year over year, while transactions grew 5.8%. Within this sector, general Merchandise (+10.9%) led retail in yearly growth, followed by health and personal care (+8.6%), building equipment and garden materials, and then food and beverage retailers (+4.9). Month over month, retail sales grew 2.5%, with motor vehicle and parts dealers (+4.8%) as well as furniture, electronics and appliances (+4.8%) seeing the greatest improvements.

Month-over-month restaurant sales (-3.1%) and transactions (-1.4%) both decreased, marking a second consecutive month of slowing restaurant sales and foot traffic. This is one particular sector to watch, as consumers may pull back on eating out at bars and restaurants in favor of cooking at home.