With Thanksgiving and Black Friday in the last week of November in America, the shopping season has started. By the end of the year, Americans are expected to spend between $843 billion and $859 billion.
This year’s season opening figures are better than last year, when the epidemic was very effective, but worse than the pre-epidemic period when we look at the occupancy rate in the stores.
Compared to 2020, the density in the stores increased by 47.5%. The density is 28.3 percent less than the pre-pandemic period, the 2019 figures. In the south of the country, the 2019 figures are very close.
One of the shoppers is Tami Thorsell. “It really feels good to see everybody out because I went out a little bit last year and it was really quiet,” Thorsell said. “It wasn’t a good feeling for the start of Christmas,” he says.
Experts point out that this year, Americans started the shopping season early. In fact, it is stated that 61 percent of consumers are in this group.
“This year, customers started the season early, even at the end of October,” said Stefanie Cicerello, mall manager. Coming and going has also changed. We are keeping up with that. Saturdays at the mall are still the busiest days but we see more crowds during the week thanks to people working from home. There is an increase in lunch hours,” he says.
The reasons why customers started the season early are the possibility that they may not be able to find the products they want due to problems in the supply chain, and the stores started the campaigns early this year.
Despite the fact that the prices increased between 4 and 17 percent with the effect of inflation in the country compared to last year, the store owners are generally satisfied with the interest.
Americans are expected to spend between 8.5 and 10.5 percent more during this year’s shopping season than last year.
This corresponds to an amount between 843 and 859 billion dollars.
Although the fact that the stores are more full at the beginning of the shopping season compared to last year, and even close to the 2019 level in the southern states, is considered a good sign for the economy, inflation is at the peak of the last 31 years and the problems in the supply chain continue, even though they decrease. Of course, it is also necessary to add the Omicron variant of Corona, which emerged in South Africa and spread to the world, including America.
Federal Reserve Bank Chairman Jerome Powell draws attention to the latest developments in the epidemic and that this may have a knock-on effect on the economy, including inflation and the supply chain.
“The recent rise in COVID-19 cases and the emergence of the Omicron variant is at a disadvantage for employment and economic activity, as well as a growing uncertainty in inflation,” Powell said in his speech to the Senate committee. “Bigger concerns about the virus may reduce people’s willingness to work in person, which slows job market progress and can increase problems in the supply chain,” he said.
Powell also said that the reasons for raising inflation appear to spread over the next year. In addition to this, Powell also emphasizes that inflation will start to decrease as of the second half of next year and the Central Bank will use all the means at its disposal to prevent the inflation rate of 6.2 percent from stabilizing.
According to the US Finance Minister Jenet Yellen, the most important cause of inflation is the epidemic and the supply chain problem it causes.
The recent decline in fuel prices seems to have come to the rescue of President Joe Biden amid all these economic discussions.
While Biden takes steps regarding the problems in the supply chain, he also does not neglect to give positive messages about the economy.
“Prices are still contradictory as the world returns to normal,” Biden said at a press conference at the White House. But as the problems are overcome, the price pressure will ease. Let’s take a look at our economy. Salaries are increasing thanks to the America Recovery Program. Tax cuts and rising middle-class salaries mean the average American is pocketing $100 more per month than last year. Compared to before the epidemic, it is 350 dollars. “In fact, we are the only leading economy in the world where household income has increased, and the economy as a whole is stronger than in the pre-pandemic period.”
A recent poll by Morning Consult/Politico revealed that almost 9 out of 10 voters are more or less worried about rising inflation.
Considering that the economy is the most important issue for Americans in the elections, it seems that the economy will probably be the most important agenda of the Biden administration until the Congress elections in November next year.