All eyes will be on consumers through year-end as holiday sales will become the focus. The National Retail Federation is projecting higher holiday sales in 2020 than 2019 (by as much as 5% higher). If that were to come true, it would be monumental in a year where businesses and consumers were hit hard by the effects of COVID. It would also point to the resiliency of the U.S. economy to rebound from a pandemic that led to questionable decisions by state and local governments to lockdown more than necessary.
Last week, the economic numbers continued to show that the U.S. recovery is very real and in-tact. Manufacturing and Services data for November looks to improve upon October’s numbers. The Chicago Fed National Activity index showed considerable improvement in October versus September. New Home Sales for October blew out expectations by 29,000 units and September’s already strong sales were revised higher by 43,000 units. This week we will get an idea of how much lockdowns in certain states have affected the job market as Payrolls and Unemployment are released on Friday.