U.S. retail sales rebound in March, with apparel and sporting goods among winners

Retail sales also rebounded as U.S. consumer confidence surged, driven by $1,400 stimulus checks distributed last month and strong jobs.

Sporting goods sales increased 23.5%

According to retail data released by the U.S. Department of Commerce, total retail sales in the United States increased by 9.8% to $619.1 billion in March, and sales increased by 17.7% compared with March 2020.

When broken down by category, sporting goods retailers saw the largest growth, with sales increasing by 23.5%; followed by clothing and accessories retailers, with sales increasing by 18.3%; furniture and home furnishings sales increased by 5.9%; building materials and gardening supplies sales increased by 12.1%; online and other non-store sales increased by 6%; electronics and appliance sales increased by 10.5%; hygiene and personal care sales increased by 5.7%; department store sales increased by 9%; and grocery store and beverage store retailers' sales both increased by 9%.

In fact, after President Biden issued $1.9 trillion in stimulus spending, American consumers are less anxious and remain optimistic in the coming months. The CEO of American International Shopping Center said that the strong performance of retail and service industries will lead the United States to recover from the COVID-19 epidemic, hoping that with the improvement of weather and the introduction of vaccines, the US economy will be able to return to the level before the COVID-19 epidemic.

U.S. retail sales could reach $4.4 trillion

Hopes for an economic rebound were boosted by the Labor Department's latest jobless claims report , which showed a seasonally adjusted 576,000 initial claims for unemployment benefits in the week ended April 10, the lowest level since the early days of the outbreak and a sharp drop from the previous session.

This also indirectly shows that the epidemic has suppressed the demand of many people. When the epidemic is over, in addition to returning to their normal jobs, they will also enjoy their own entertainment time. Industry insiders predict that by 2021, US retail sales will increase by 6.5% to 8.2% before 2020, and the total will be between US$4.33 trillion and US$4.4 trillion.

In addition, as the economy continues to reopen, consumer demand may shift away from goods and more toward travel and other services, which may affect offline and online sales to some extent .

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March

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