By Reuters Staff
Source: www.reuters.com, February 2021

Feb 24 (Reuters) – U.S. retail sales are expected to rise between 6.5% and 8.2% to more than $4.33 trillion in 2021 as more people get vaccinated and the economy reopens, the National Retail Federation (NRF) said on Wednesday.

Preliminary results show retail sales for 2020 grew 6.7% to $4.06 trillion, above the trade body’s forecast of at least 3.5% growth, the NRF said.

“We are very optimistic that healthy consumer fundamentals, pent-up demand and widespread distribution of the vaccine will generate increased economic growth, retail sales and consumer spending,” NRF Chief Executive Matthew Shay said in a statement. (Reporting by Aditi Sebastian; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)