Stimulus checks boosted retail sales

Newly vaccinated and armed with $1,400 stimulus checks, Americans went on a spending spree last month, buying new clothes and going out to eat again. Retail sales surged a seasonally adjusted 9.8 percent after dropping about 3 percent the month before, the Commerce Department said Thursday. The rise was much better than the 5.5 percent increase Wall Street analysts had expected. Thursday’s report is the latest sign that the economy is improving as vaccinations accelerate, business restrictions are relaxed and more people are willing to head out to shop or eat. Employers, for example, added 916,000 jobs last month, the most since August. And U.S. consumer confidence surged in March to the highest level in a year.