COVID-19 Crushed American Retail Sales in March

The novel coronavirus crisis has hit the American retail industry hard. Retail and foodservice sales fell 8.7% in March, according to a report from the U.S. Census Bureau. The reading of $483.1 billion in total retail sales stands 6.2% below the year-ago figures, and it's the lowest retail activity seen since August of 2017.

This is the largest single-month decline in the history of this Census Bureau report, which stretches back to 1992. The subprime meltdown in 2008 resulted in a 3.8% retail decline in October and a 3.9% drop in November.

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Source Fool.com