The latest data from the Commerce Department shows that retail sales dropped 1.2% from April to May.  As the Wall Street Journal's Justin Lahart and Rachel Dodes note, that's the first monthly drop since last September.  The year-to-year data looks more positive.  Here's the percent change in retail and food sales from the Census Bureau:

So who has been driving that 7.9% jump in sales over the last year?  According to a recent Gallup survey, it is wealthy Americans and elderly consumers.  While daily spending among lower- and middle-income Americans has stayed just below $60, on average, for the last year, upper-income Americans show a different pattern.  From Gallup:

Perhaps more surprising is the increase in spending among elderly Americans.  Consumer 65 and over went from spending, on average, $44 in May, 2009, to spending $64 a day on average in May of 2010.  Read more from Gallup here.