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US retail sales plunge 1.9% in December amid Omicron variant concerns

By Ishika Dangayach on Jan 14, 2022 | 04:34 AM IST


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Retail sales decline 1.9 % in December

Total sales for 2021 were up 19.3 percent from the previous year 

US retail sales declined in December due to shortages and a rise in inflation amid the surge in Covid-19 Omicron variant cases.  

Retail sales fell 1.9 percent last month, the most since February 2021, after gaining 0.2 percent in November, according to the Commerce Department on Friday. 

Economists surveyed by Reuters expected Retail sales to remain steady in December. 

Read more: US producer price surges 0.2% in December, miss analysts estimates

December, towards the tail end of the Christmas shopping season, has historically been a strong month for retail sales. Concerns over shipping delays, on the other hand, drove many shoppers to purchase earlier than normal to guarantee that gifts arrived on time. Because the data are adjusted for seasonal changes, early shopping might have contributed to the lower-than-expected results, Bloomberg stated. 

Meanwhile, after last month's decline in overall sales, Total retail sales increased by more than 19% in 2021 compared to the previous year.

Read more: Jobless claims surge due to spike in Covid-19 cases

Category Decline 

Last month, sales fell in ten of the thirteen retail categories, headed by non-store merchants, which include e-commerce. These sales fell 8.7 percent from the previous month.

Electronics and appliance store sales fell 2.9 percent while Food and beverage retail sales declined 0.5 percent.

Clothing shop sales and Service station receipts fell 3.1 percent and 0.7 percent respectively. 

Read more: US inflation reaches 7% in December, highest since 1982

Restaurant and bar receipts, the report's lone service-oriented category fell 0.8 percent after gaining the previous month.

Vehicle sales fell by 0.4 percent. Furniture shop sales fell 5.5 percent, while sales at building material and garden equipment providers, on the other hand, increased by 0.9 percent.

Read more: U.S. employment rate rises slowly in December amid labor shortage

Control group sales, which exclude food services, car dealers, gasoline stations decreased 3.1 percent in December from the previous month, the highest since February.

Picture Credits: USA Today 


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