Customers wearing protective masks leave a Uniqlo store in San Francisco, California, on Wednesday, February 17, 2021.
David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Retail sales are expected to grow by 6.5% and 8.2% this year, reaching more than $ 4.33 trillion in sales as the U.S. economy begins to reopen, and more and more individuals receive the Covid vaccine, the National Retail Federation said Wednesday.
A preliminary reading shows that retail sales grew by 6.7% to $ 4.06 trillion last year, the industry’s leading trading group said. This has been greatly enhanced by almost 22% growth online.
Over the course of the year, more Americans turned to websites and programs to buy groceries, comfortable clothing, and household items. The numbers exclude car dealers, petrol stations and restaurants.
“The trajectory of the economy depends on the effectiveness of the vaccine and its distribution,” Jack Kleinhenz, chief economist of the NRF, said in a statement.
“Our main assumption is that the vaccination will be effective and enable the accelerated growth during the middle of the year,” he said. “The economy is expected to experience its fastest growth in more than two decades.”
Read the full release of NRF here.
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