New York Times (December 26)
“Despite lingering inflation, Americans increased their spending this holiday season, early data shows. That comes as a big relief for retailers that had spent much of the year fearing the economy would soon weaken and consumer spending would fall.” It appears that “solid job growth is allowing people to spend more. And even though consumer prices have risen a lot in the last two years, wages have grown faster on the whole.”
Tags: Consumer spending, Economy, Holiday season, Inflation, Job growth, Lingering, Prices, Relief, Retailers, U.S.
San Francisco Chronicle (November 24)
“Deaths from COVID-19 have started to increase statewide, a harbinger of what could be a deadly holiday season if cases spike as expected from Thanksgiving get-togethers…. With the holiday still a few days away, California reported a record 20,282 cases on Monday.” The “astonishingly high” number dwarves the previous record of 13,412 cases set one week ago.
Tags: California, Cases, COVID-19, Deadly, Deaths, Get-togethers, Harbinger, Holiday season, Record, Spike, Thanksgiving
Washington Post (October 26)
“The coronavirus pandemic numbers have been going the wrong direction for more than a month, topping 80,000 newly confirmed infections daily across the country, with hospitalizations rising in more than three dozen states and deaths creeping upward. Now, the United States is barreling toward another inflection point: a holiday season dictated by the calendar and demanded by tradition.”
Tags: 000, 80, Confirmed, Coronavirus, Deaths, Holiday season, Hospitalizations, Infections, Inflection point, Pandemic
Barron’s February 21)
“Retailers had a great holiday season to end 2017…but not all of them will be able to hang on to that momentum throughout the year.” Despite some gains, such tighter inventory control and higher gross margins, “investors will be more focused on whether or not companies can sustain that momentum, given how retail was trounced last year by worries about Amazon.com and e-commerce in general.”
Tags: Amazon, E-commerce, Gross margins, Holiday season, Inventory control, Investors, Momentum, Retailers
