Considering most retail shops are deemed non-essential, it comes to no surprise that retail sales have fallen dramatically, according to the latest New York Times report.
“Total sales, which include retail purchases in stores and online as well as money spent at bars and restaurants, fell 8.7 percent from the previous month,” reads the Times. This was the biggest decline the country has seen in three decades.
The 8.7 percent does not fully capture the full story. The economy has frozen, largely because of the decline of retail. The scary thing is that most businesses did not shut down until late March or early April, which means the data for the month of April will be significantly worse than March.
The biggest one-month drop in retail sales came during the fall of 2008, the beginning of the financial crisis. Numbers dropped nearly 4 percent for two straight months.
On the contrary, grocery stores and pharmacies — all businesses deemed essential — are booming. Although this is considered “retail,” this does not offset the steep drop we saw in March.
The struggling industry already let go of 30,000 employees in 2019. The numbers have already risen exponentially.
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To read the full report in the New York Times, click here: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/15/business/economy/coronavirus-retail-sales.html
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