Retail sales in the United States took off in a big way in May as the lockdown measures wound down and American got back to the business of shopping. The jump was 17.7 percent compared to April, making it the highest one-month ever gain ever recorded. It even doubled the expectations of 8 percent that had been forecast by Dow Jones and beat a collapse in retail sales of 16.4 percent recorded in April. Reports say that clothing was the biggest selling item, not surprisingly, but musical instruments, sporting goods and book stores also powered ahead. Car sales jumped 44 percent while food services bounced back 29 percent. Total sales were still off last year’s pace by 6.1 percent and it’s clear that the economy will be fighting to make up ground on what could have been for the rest of the year.
