Spotlight on retail

The Commerce Department serves up its September snapshot of U. S. retail sales today.

Americans have ramped up spending after a sharp pullback in the spring due to the pandemic, but the pace of that growth has slowed. Retail sales increased 0.6% in August. That followed increases of 0.9% in July, 8.6% in June and 18.3% in May. One reason the pace of spending has slowed is many people who lost their job are no longer receiving a $ 600 a week boost in their unemployment checks.