Well, that was easy. After the most devastating economic collapse last year since the early 1930s, inflation-adjusted retail sales in January came in 6.0% above their January 2020 pre-Covid level.
As shown in the chart below, that was the second largest year-over-year gain since the turn of the century. And it needs be emphasized we are talking about the 12 month change, not January sales annualized, meaning that the deep hole in April and May has been filled and then some. In fact, from the April bottom, real retail sales in January were up a stunning 35%.
So the question recurs: Why is Washington about to flood the US economy with another $1.9 trillion of Everything Bailouts on top of the $4 trillion already dispensed when American households are self-evidently spending like there is no tomorrow?