The road to full economic recovery has been filled with ups and downs, and the American retail industry is one sector that has certainly felt these effects. The last months of 2012 and the first months of this year have been giving businesses a hazy picture of how long it will take until conditions fully improve.

According to Bloomberg, the latest data from the Commerce Department revealed that the nation's economy had solid growth during 2013's first quarter, especially when compared to the fourth quarter of last year. Gross domestic product increased at a 2.5 percent annual rate during the first three months of 2013, significantly surpassing the previous quarter's figure of 0.4 percent. The statistics also included the fact that consumer spending jumped at the start of this year, rising 3.2 percent from 2012's fourth quarter. The source noted this marked the biggest growth in consumer spending since the last quarter of 2010.

On the other hand, recent research of Americans' sentiment toward the economy dropped in April, providing a confusing look into the ongoing recovery. In a separate article, Bloomberg reports that the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index fell from 78.6 in March to 76.4 for this month.

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Wednesday, May 1st, 2013 at 9:26 am .