People haven't been reaching into their back pockets as much over the past month

Worldline data shows consumer spending in retail stores last month was up 1.6 percent on a year ago, when excluding the extra day due to a leap year.

It's below the growth rate average of 2.8 percent for the past six months.

Worldline Chief Sales Officer Bruce Profit says the retail environment remains tough.

He says people aren't able to spend more on discretionary items as they'd like to.