Shoppers in the United States are finally beginning to move beyond the grocery store, after months of eschewing non-essential retail purchases.
On June 22, Moody’s Analytics came out with a report indicating a recent thaw in discretionary retail spending. Moody’s Analytics head of economic research Scott Hoyt wrote that total retail sales defied expectations in May, spiking 17.7%. In April, sales had dropped 14.7%. A subsidiary of Moody’s Corporation, Moody’s Analytics is an economic research firm completely separate from Moody’s Investors Service.
Much of the May gains came from discretionary spending, according to the Moody’s Analytics report. The vehicle and restaurant categories proved to be “the largest dollar contributions to growth in May.” Vehicle dealer sales alone contributed 40% to added sales in May.
However, the spike in sales also reveals the depths to which spending tumbled earlier this spring.
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“These numbers were so large because sales had fallen to such low levels,” Hoyt wrote in the report.
Source: Business Insider