Customers wearing face masks leave a Uniqlo store in San Francisco, California, on Wednesday, February 17, 2021.
David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Retail sales are expected to grow between 6.5% and 8.2% this year, totaling more than $ 4.33 trillion in sales, as the US economy begins to reopen and more and more people receive the Covid vaccine , said the National Retail Federation on Wednesday.
A preliminary reading shows that retail sales grew 6.7% to $ 4.06 trillion last year, said the industry’s leading trade group. This was largely driven by almost 22% growth online.
Throughout the year, more Americans turned to websites and apps to buy groceries, comfortable clothing and home goods. The figures exclude car dealerships, gas stations and restaurants.
“The trajectory of the economy is based on the effectiveness of the vaccine and its distribution,” said NRF chief economist Jack Kleinhenz in a statement.
“Our main premise is that vaccination will be effective and allow for accelerated growth in the middle of the year,” he said. “The economy is expected to grow faster in more than two decades.”
Read the full NRF press release here.
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