The $600 stimulus checks got Americans shopping again.
After three months of declines, retail sales soared a seasonally adjusted 5.3% in January from the month before, the U.S. Commerce Department said Wednesday. It was the biggest increase since June and much larger than the 1% rise Wall Street analysts had expected.
The $600 stimulus checks, sent out at the very end of last year, has pushed people to buy new furniture, clothing and appliances.
Darryl Crum bought a new washing machine with his stimulus money, since his old one wasn’t spinning clothes well enough anymore. He chose a model that was made in America and bought it from a family-owned store instead of the major chain he usually gets appliances from.
“As I see it, the goal was to stimulate the economy,” said Crum, who is retired and lives in DeKalb, Illinois. “And I contributed.”
How long spending will continue without more stimulus checks remains to be seen.
Retail sales slumped in the last three months of 2020, as stimulus money dried up, job growth was nonexistent and a surge in virus cases kept people away from stores during the critical holiday shopping season. In fact, the Commerce Department said Wednesday that December's drop was actually larger than it first reported, revised to be down 1% instead of a 0.7% drop.
More stimulus could keep Americans spending. President Joe Biden is trying to push through a $1.9 trillion stimulus plan, which would include $1,400 in direct payments to most Americans. The U.S. job market is still weak: Employers added just 49,000 jobs in January after losing 227,000 jobs the month before, the first loss since April.
Besides strong sales at furniture and appliance stores, sales jumped an eye-popping 23.5% at department stores after slumping 3% in the last year. Online sales soared 11% and spending at restaurants, which have been hard hit by coronavirus restrictions, rose 6.9% last month.
Wednesday’s report covers about a third of overall consumer spending. It doesn’t include haircuts, hotel stays and other services, which have been badly hurt by the pandemic.
The Rev. Al Sharpton is set to lead a protest march on Wall Street to urge corporate America to resist the Trump administration’s campaign to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. The New York civil rights leader will join clergy, labor and community leaders Thursday in a demonstration through Manhattan’s Financial District that’s timed with the anniversary of the Civil Rights-era March on Washington in 1963. Sharpton called DEI the “civil rights fight of our generation." He and other Black leaders have called for boycotting American retailers that scaled backed policies and programs aimed at bolstering diversity and reducing discrimination in their ranks.
President Donald Trump's administration last month awarded a $1.2 billion contract to build and operate what's expected to become the nation’s largest immigration detention complex to a tiny Virginia firm with no experience running correction facilities.
Chipmaker Nvidia is poised to release a quarterly report that could provide a better sense of whether the stock market has been riding an overhyped artificial intelligence bubble or is being propelled by a technological boom that’s still gathering momentum.
Cracker Barrel said late Tuesday it’s returning to its old logo after critics — including President Donald Trump — protested the company’s plan to modernize.
Low-value imports are losing their duty-free status in the U.S. this week as part of President Donald Trump's agenda for making the nation less dependent on foreign goods. A widely used customs exemption for international shipments worth $800 or less is set to end starting on Friday. Trump already ended the “de minimis” rule for inexpensive items sent from China and Hong Kong, but having to pay import taxes on small parcels from everywhere else likely will be a big change for some small businesses and online shoppers. Purchases that previously entered the U.S. without needing to clear customs will be subject to the origin country’s tariff rate, which can range from 10% to 50%.
Southwest Airlines will soon require plus-size travelers to pay for an extra seat in advance if they can't fit within the armrests of one seat. This change is part of several updates the airline is making. The new rule starts on Jan. 27, the same day Southwest begins assigning seats. Currently, plus-size passengers can pay for an extra seat in advance and later get a refund, or request a free extra seat at the airport. Under the new policy, refunds are still possible but not guaranteed. Southwest said in a statement it is updating policies to prepare for assigned seating next year.
Cracker Barrel is sticking with its new logo. For now. But the chain is also apologizing to fans who were angered when the change was announced last week.
Elon Musk on Monday targeted Apple and OpenAI in an antitrust lawsuit alleging that the iPhone maker and the ChatGPT maker are teaming up to thwart competition in artificial intelligence.
