Consumer spending beat April forecast
TEXT OF STORY
Renita Jablonski: Overall retail figures out this morning from the Commerce Department suggest consumer spending is more resilient than many analysts anticipated. Marketplace’s Dan Grech explains.
Dan Grech: Auto sales were off nearly 3 percent in April. Excluding that, retail sales were actually up half a percent last month, well above most predictions. Joe Skorupa edits RIS News, a retail industry publication. He says the economic slowdown so far has hit Wall Street far harder than Main Street.
Joe Skorupa: The perfect storm for retail sluggishness can really be seen in layoffs. Until we see unemployment spiking up 3 and 4 percent, I don’t expect to see a consumer spending dip until that happens.
This month, the Bush administration started sending out checks as part of its economic stimulus package. That’s $100 billion that retailers are hoping will juice sales in May.
I’m Dan Grech for Marketplace.
There’s a lot happening in the world. Through it all, Marketplace is here for you.
You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible.
Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.