Retail Sales Hit Record 17.7% in May in Another Sign the Economy is Recovering
Will the excitement of being able to leave the house stick around or will people go back to online shopping?
America saw a decline in unemployment claims and decent jobs report in May.
The Commerce Department revealed another sign the economy is recovering from the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic. Retail sales hit a record of 17.7% in May.
The economy has slowly reopened and people are sick of being stuck inside their homes:
Costco Wholesale Corp. ’s comparable sales, those from stores or digital channels operating at least 12 months, rose 9.7% in May. Sales of discretionary and nonfood items such as bedding, appliances and sporting goods “rebounded in May compared to recent months,” while food sales stayed strong, a Costco executive said on a prerecorded call to discuss monthly sales. Walmart Inc. and Target Corp. executives also said last month that spending picked up at the end of their most recent quarters in late April.
Still, economists project it could take years for the U.S. economy to recover, and recent increases in coronavirus cases in more than a dozen states are casting a cloud over reopening efforts.
“We still have so far to go,” said André Kurmann, associate professor of economics at Drexel University. “We are still so far below the prepandemic employment levels.”
“Stores can reopen to some extent, but how many people are going to come back is the big question,” he added.
From Fox Business:
The changes have in many cases intensified the financial strain on traditional physical stores and boosted online purchases. Sales at non-store retailers, which include internet companies like Amazon and eBay, rose 9% in May after posting growth of 9.5% in April. Clothiers achieved a stunning 188% monthly gain, but that was not enough to offset a 63.4% drop over the past 12 months.
Retail sales account for roughly half of all consumer spending, which fuels about 70% of total economic activity. The rest of consumer spending includes services, from cellphone and internet contracts to gym memberships and child care.
[Featured image via YouTube]
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Comments
Undoubtedly they will go back to Amazon
Lol spending all that “free money”
Good news, bad news. Good news is the economy is recovering nicely. Bad news is that the Dems have to try the next thing to generate chaos.
The economy is sound. It has been artificially hindered by the Wuhan flu and now riots. Some of the extremely high unemployment numbers are those who were furloughed only to return in a week or two….
The moving goal posts, economic suicide by red states, counties, and towns, riots and the lack of response, fear mongering, capricious and arbitrary local rules, mismanagement, “picking winners and losers”, and etc….
America is resilient, though it can only handle some much….
Patrick Henry: “Give me liberty, or give me death!”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Give_me_liberty,_or_give_me_death!
Us: “Give me free shipping, and take my liberty.”
The ecomony could grow to infintitely, but we’ll be enslaved by maniacs extorting us. If a democrat gets in the White House (one will, eventually) your taxes will go through the roof, and you will yearn for the days when you had less money but had your freedom – and did not fear a ‘black lives matters’ government-funded ‘Though Policeman’ roaming around your neighborhood.
No Democrats left standing after November…….
We’re in a revolution. Everyone is set in their voting position. Every psycho democrat in office will be re-elected. (Remember: hillary clinton won the popular vote.)
“Shopping” is nice, but that cheap ChiComm shit we’re buying isn’t worth our freedom.
Once again, apply some perspective.
Retail sales were up 17.7% in May over April. The good news is that brick and mortar retail establishments were only open, sometimes in reduced circumstances, for less than half of the month of May. The bad news is that brick and mortar retail establishments were virtually all closed in April. So, we would expect there to be an upsurge in retail sales for May. June will provide a better barometer for economic recovery, though the riots and demonstrations will obviously affect those numbers as well. We’ll see what things look look like after Labor Day.
People have 3 months of backed up spending and savings at least……
Someone has to do it… were some stores having fire sales?
“ were some stores having fire sales?”
Yeppers ?
Mostly in Minnesota.
A Target demographic. So to speak…
“We still have so far to go,” said André Kurmann, associate professor of economics at Drexel University. “We are still so far below the prepandemic employment levels.”
Well, is the govt. still paying people to not work? That will have a wee bit to do with it.
More bad news for Democrats.
Keep in mind that “retail sales” are measured in dollars. So if the prices of the things go up, retail sales goes up. I wonder how much of this 17% is due to inflation. Bought any ground beef lately?
For non-grocery retailers shut-up for 3 months most of the merchandise was greatly marked down. So the volume of merchandise sold would be much higher than almost 20%.
I have to say from experience to one person and one job where I work we were when we reopened and Georgia down 680,000 over the previous year 41 days later after reopening we were up over last year by 74,000 did not hold any special sales in fact remove some discounts but it seems real enough from here
I’m old enough to remember the great department stores of Atlanta, Rich’s and Davison’s. Problem is, you just about have to go to Amazon for just about anything.