Retail Sales to Overcome Uncertainties Like Coronavirus to Rise in 2020

By Kim Khan

Investing.com – Retail sales U.S. will continue to climb this year, overcoming uncertainty due to the coronavirus and also trade wars and the presidential election, the National Retail Federation said Wednesday.

Sales will rise 3.5% to 4.1% to between $3.93 trillion and $3.95 trillion in 2020, the NRF said. Online sales will be up between 12% and 15%.

Preliminary results for 2019 showed a rise in retail sales of 3.7% from the year ago to $3.79 trillion. Online and non-store sales rose 12.9%.

“With gains in household income and wealth, lower interest rates and strong consumer confidence, we expect another healthy year ahead,” NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said in a statement.

“There are always wild cards we cannot control like coronavirus and a politically charged election year,” Shay said. “But when it comes to the fundamentals, our economy is sound and consumers continue to lead the way.”

The S&P consumer discretionary sector was up 1.4%.

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