Sales at U.S. retailers rose 9.8 percent in March, the government said Thursday, in part because of the additional $1,400 stimulus checks for consumers from the federal government that is accelerating economic growth.
This confirms the 2020’s economic recovery has begun, as more businesses open and consumers grow confident that the worst of the pandemic is over. The sales gain was the second largest on record, exceeded only by an 18 percent spike last May when the U.S. lockdown was first lifted.
Stock market indexes also reached new highs, which does bring back hints of the original roaring 1920’s—excessive exuberance in the financial markets and eight years of prosperity—but then came the 1930s when outmoded economic verities (and few regulations) turned it into the Great Depression.
However, I would compare this recovery to that after World War Two, which necessitated programs enabling government to invest heavily in the future—in infrastructure, education, and housing, as is being proposed today.
We achieved much higher annual GDP growth rates post-WWII, as high as 14 percent (see below graph dating from 1948), which can happen again with the right public and private investments.
Retail sales revved up 15 percent in March at car dealers even as automakers struggled to procure enough computer chips to maintain production, per MarketWatch’s Jeffry Bartash. Auto sales account for about 20 percent of all retail sales.
Sales at gas stations also rose nearly 11 percent, reflecting rising oil prices and more Americans taking to the road as government coronavirus restrictions are lifted. If autos and gas are set aside, retail sales still jumped 8.2 percent.
Almost every major retail group shared in the benefits of the federal aid payments. Receipts leaped 13.4 percent for bars and restaurants, 18 percent for clothing stores, 23.5 percent for sporting goods and other recreational items.
What about COVID-19 and future viruses that must be vanquished to continue this recovery? Better public health care spending is also needed and is contained in the just passed American Jobs Act. Hospitalization rates have plateaued at too high a level. The current 7-day average is 36,941, up from 36,257 reported yesterday, and well above the post-summer surge low of 23,000.
So we do need post-WWII-size investments in the future to create a real recovery.
Harlan Green © 2021
Follow Harlan Green on Twitter: https://twitter.com/HarlanGreen
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