Stimulus checks, a boost in employment and vaccinations, and relaxing Covid-related restrictions in many states likely helped usher in a March spending surge.
After a February drop of nearly 3%, March retail and food sales in the U.S. were up by 9.8%.
The U.S. Department of Commerce’s advanced estimate, released on April 15, showed that total sales were up to $619 billion for the month.
Total sales for 2021 up to and including March were up 14.3% from the same period last year, with retail up 26.9% and food sales up 36% from last year.
The U.S. unemployment rate continues to trend downward. Now at 6%, it is less than half of what its 14.7% peak last April, although a few percentage points still need to be shaved off to return to prepandemic levels of below 4%. Roughy 916,000 jobs were added last month.
Now, although Covid-19 cases are on the rise again after reaching in March the lowest number of cases since January’s spike, nearly a quarter of the U.S. population has been fully vaccinated, and consumers are becoming more confident in bringing back old spending habits.
