Retail Sales Rose Steadily in January

By Lucy Mitchell
Feb 4 2011

According to a federal report released this morning, retail sales in the US rose steadily in January at a rate of 4.2% for the month.

The entire US retail sector has been enjoying a surge in demand. With the retail sector now in high gear there are plenty of other industries that have been finding new hope in the recovering economic structure.

The manufacturing sector has been pushing forward as well now that the demand is much higher. This is thanks to the increase in many different parts of the US economy. Most often this is dealing with the automotive industry that has also seen massive increases over the past several months.

Nonetheless, there are still many companies that are suffering thanks to the lagging economic outlook. But there is hope that these industries will once again be picking up. The one thorn in the paw of many companies is the still slumped housing market, which has seen increases but not enough to make a difference at this point.

The staggering numbers through the retail sector give rise to the fact that consumers are once again gaining confidence in the US. When the consumers are willing to spend there is more of an opportunity for them to find confidence that jobs and income levels will stabilize over the next few months.

The federal government is currently looking into further stimulus packages that will aid in the recovery for the housing industry. One idea that has been kicked around is rebooting the federal tax credit for new home buyers.