Retail sales growth fell to new depths in April as the pandemic continues

US retail and food services sales fell 21.6% year-over-year (YoY) in April, a steep deceleration from the -5.7% YoY growth the industry posted in March, per estimates from the US Census Bureau. And retail’s performance is rapidly deteriorating during the pandemic, with retail and food services sales dropping 16.4% in April compared to March, nearly doubling March’s -8.3% month-to-month decrease. This nosedive in sales is surely due to the coronavirus pandemic forcing stores to close and limiting consumer spending, and these factors could hurt retail’s performance well beyond April.

As the pandemic goes on, it’s ravaging sales in all categories except for e-commerce.