Retail Sales Drop by Record 16.4 Percent
Summary from the AllSides News Team
Featured Coverage of this Story
From the Left
When Shoppers Venture Out, What Will Be Left?
The coronavirus pandemic dealt another crushing blow to retailers in April. Now the question is what the sector will look like as the economy reopens — and how much permanent damage has been inflicted.
Retail sales fell 16.4 percent last month, the Commerce Department said Friday, by far the largest monthly drop on record. That followed an 8.3 percent drop in March, the previous record. Total sales for April, which include retail purchases in stores and online as well as money spent at bars and restaurants, were the lowest since...
From the Center
Retail sales fall a record 16.4 percent in April, far worse than predicted
Consumer spending tumbled a record 16.4% in April as the backbone of the U.S. economy retrenched amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to a government report Friday.
Economists surveyed by Dow Jones expected the advanced retail sales number to fall 12.3% after March’s reported 8.3% dive already had set a record for data going back to 1992. The March numbers were revised to be not as bad as the 8.7% initially reported.
Some 68% of the nation’s $21.5 trillion economy comes from personal consumption expenditures, which tumbled 7.6% in the first...
From the Center
Retail sales crater a record 16.4% in April amid coronavirus lockdowns and spending slump 
The numbers: Sales at U.S. retailers sank a record 16.4% in April after coronavirus lockdowns shuttered much of the economy, cost millions of jobs and spawned an unprecedented slump in consumer spending.
Retail sales tumbled in every category except online shopping, the government said Friday. Sales also sank by a revised 8.3% in March, easily marking the worst back-to-back declines in modern American history.
Economists polled by MarketWatch expected a 12.5% plunge.
What happened: Receipts at auto dealers fell more than 12% as sales fell to the lowest level in...
AllSides Picks
May 8th, 2024
May 7th, 2024
Discuss & Debate economy and jobs
Introduction to Living Room Conversations
May 15 at 12pm PT / 3pm ET Living Room ConversationsMore News about Business from the Left, Center and Right
From the Left
From the Center
From the Right
