Without consumer purchases, retailers know they wouldn't last long. That is why many merchants were concerned about their operations during the U.S. economic recession, and it's also why many businesses are breathing a sigh of relief as customers are coming back into their stores and logging onto their websites.

Bloomberg reports that according to the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index, May showed a robust growth in optimism among Americans. The index increased to 83.7 for the month from April figure of 76.4. This beat analysts' expectations of 82.5. The source explains that the latest index is far better than the average figure that was seen during the recession, which stood around 64.2 until the downturn ended in June 2009.

This strong boost in confidence is certainly expected to have an impact on the nation's retail sales, which will further help to improve the economy. April was a good month for merchants around the country, as Voice of America reports that data from the Commerce Department showed sales totals rose 0.1 percent in April from March. While it's not significant growth, analysts do expect more increases in the coming months.

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Friday, May 24th, 2013 at 1:40 pm .