CLIFF EDGE

Retail Sales in U.S. Collapse by 16% in Steepest Drop on Record

The U.S. economy is on track for its biggest second-quarter contraction since the Great Depression.

U.S. retail sales plummeted by 16.4 percent last month—the biggest decline since the Commerce Department started tracking those numbers in 1992. That follows data for March that showed receipts at retailers falling at just over 8 percent. The two months of declining figures put the U.S. economy on track for its biggest contraction in the second quarter since the Great Depression of the 1930s, according to Reuters. Sales at clothing and accessories stores have been particularly hurt by the pandemic lockdown measures—they were down a staggering 89.3 percent in April. But some stores—such as Walmart, Target, and Kroger—saw growing sales, as they benefited from shoppers buying more groceries and home essentials than they were before the shelter-in-place orders.