Americans are spending. A lot. And not just on Amazon.
Retail sales rose 0.8% in May, the government reported Thursday — much better than expected. Spending was up 5.9% from a year ago.
And the gains were broad: Spending surged at clothing stores, at restaurants and at home-improvement stores such as Home Depot (HD) and Lowe’s (LOW).
In fact, the jump in spending at physical stores in May outpaced what the government calls nonstore retailers, a category that includes Amazon (AMZN) and other online retailers. (It also includes catalog retailers, vending machines and even newspaper delivery. How quaint!)
American shoppers are feeling more confident because of a strong economy and job market. The unemployment rate is the lowest since 2000. And most people have some extra money from the tax cuts enacted late last year.
Retail sales have been improving after a tough start to the year.
A harsh winter may have been partly to blame for weak spending in January and February. Economists also speculated that Americans were waiting to see what would happen with tax laws. Once the tax cuts passed, it was an all-clear to start shopping.