Retail sales exceeded expectations for May, surging to 17.7% — resulting in the highest one-month increase for retail sales of all time.
With store closings across the US amid COVID-19, the previous month had taken a plunge in retail sales. However, May made up for that loss by more than doubling initial predictions from Dow Jones. These skyrocketed results during the first month of reopening gives high hopes for the industry recovering from the pandemic.
Clothing and accessories stores had the biggest month-over-month increase at 188%, while sporting goods, bookstores and music stores reported 88.2%. Stocks also went up tremendously.
These numbers provide further evidence that pent-up consumer demand is real. While abiding to local guidelines, consumers are eager to return to some form of normalcy in their lives, and retail shopping is part of that.
While there’s still a long road ahead to fully make up for lost ground, there’s various signs that point to an optimistic future and healthy signs of turnaround.
Source: US Retail Sales May CNBC – 6/16/20
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