Overall, spending growth was “soft” in July, according to MasterCard Advisors’ Michael McNamara, who tracks the performance of U.S. retail each month. But not every market subdivision suffered.

While overall growth has been below 3.5 percent for months, small business spending growth has outperformed the general trend, including a six percent expansion in July. It’s a trend that merits continued attention “” which is why MasterCard and Wells Fargo will continue to monitor the data with regular updates to their Spending Pulse reports.

This week, we’ve brought MasterCard’s McNamara onto our platform to talk about the latest numbers relative to historical growth, and to share with us a few of the more surprising data points from this latest research. Our guest also dispels a myth about back-to-school sales growth, and what the numbers mean “” or don’t mean “” for future performance.

Overall, spending growth was “soft” in July, according to MasterCard Advisors’ Michael McNamara, who tracks the performance of U.S. retail each month. But not every market subdivision suffered.

While overall growth has been below 3.5 percent for months, small business spending growth has outperformed the general trend, including a six percent expansion in July. It’s a trend that merits continued attention — which is why MasterCard and Wells Fargo will continue to monitor the data with regular updates to their Spending Pulse reports.

This week, we’ve brought MasterCard’s McNamara onto our platform to talk about the latest numbers relative to historical growth, and to share with us a few of the more surprising data points from this latest research. Our guest also dispels a myth about  back-to-school sales growth, and what the numbers mean — or don’t mean — for future performance.

Listen to the full audio interview with Michael McNamara here.

Michael McNamara

Global Solutions Leader

Mike McNamara leads MasterCard SpendingPulse, a retail sales data service offered by MasterCard Advisors which leverages MasterCard’s vast data resources to provide Issuers with information to help quantify consumer spending opportunities, identify where and when spending occurs throughout the course of the year. The Capital Markets and Merchant marketplaces also benefit from SpendingPulse research.

Mike and SpendingPulse data are frequently quoted in the media by outlets including: Reuters, Dow Jones, Associated Press, CNBC, CNN, NBC, CBS and ABC News. During the 2009 holiday season Mike and SpendingPulse information were quoted in thousands of print publications and broadcast outlets.

Prior to joining MasterCard, Mike was a managing analyst with Datamonitor Plc, a leading global market research organization headquartered in London. While at Datamonitor, he managed the North American region of the financial service technology division. Before joining Datamonitor, Mike was a small cap equity analyst with Royce Ebright & Associates, a member of the Royce family of mutual funds.

Mike holds a BA in Economics from Fairfield University and an MBA from the F.W. Olin School of Business at Babson College.