Retail sales explode in March as consumers use stimulus checks to spend heavily

Retail sales boomed 9.8% higher in March thanks to a jump in spending at bars and restaurants as well as multiple other groups.

Economists already had been expecting a gain of 6.1% as consumers received their $1,400 government stimulus checks.

Jobless claims added to the good economic news, with first-time filings for unemployment insurance plunging to 576,000, easily the best week since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/04/15/us-r...arch-2021.html