ARLINGTON, Va.—Retail sales plummeted in March as the effects of COVID-19 shutdowns continue to reverberate through the economy.
Total retail sales dropped 8.7% during the month, following February's 0.4% fall.
"The more discretionary the category, the greater the fall in sales," noted NAFCU Chief Economist and Vice President of Research Curt Long "Nonstore retailers are up 3.1%, which include online merchants such as Amazon, who has hired tens of thousands more workers to meet demand. It is yet to be seen how many of the small businesses and restaurants recover from the crisis, and when.
"NAFCU expects worse numbers over the next several months due to more extensive shutdowns and social distancing nationwide, followed by a slow recovery," he concluded.
Year-over-year retail sales were down 5.9% in March; February's year-over-year sales saw a 4.9% increase. Control group sales, which excludes the auto, gas, and building materials categories, were down 3.5 in March and saw a 0.2% drop from a year ago.
"Results among the major retail segments were abysmal, mostly focused on discretionary spending," Long said, with significant falls among the clothing sector (-50.5%), furniture sector (-26.8%), and food service places (-26.5%).