Advance Retail Sales 
The above table from Econoday.
Month-to-month percentages are totally distorted by Covid. Charts show the trends better.
Advance Retail Sales for 2020
Motor vehicles and parts recovered. Nonstore retailers accelerated, Food and drinking places, gas stations, and departments stores are weak.
General merchandise stores like Walmart regained the previous trend but no more.
Because they also sold food, General Merchandise stores stayed open in the lockdowns but Department Stores didn’t.
As restaurants opened up food and beverage stores slipped but remain above the pre-Covid levels.
This was the expected behavior.
What’s Next?
Due to huge outbreaks of Covid, Food and Drinking Places will take another hit.
More layoffs in the hospitality sector are coming.
Congress is still bickering over a Covid package so a lot more pain is in store for those who don’t have a job or are about to lose one.
Mish
Hello Mish, I just wanted to take them time to thank you for all of your hard work over the years in this (sometimes/often?) thankless undertaking of yours and for introducing me to many constructively critical analytical authors over the years. I don’t read your work to look for agreement but for challenging and critical analysis and whether I agree or not I am always grateful for your dedication and thoughtful analysis.
Though I usually don’t comment on personal matters in public forums I would like to make an exception if I may and congratulate you and your recent nuptials.
Best Regards….
D.Roy
Replied to a bunch of housing comments just now
I am thinking negative GDP 4Q
Nope.
War with Iran will boost the economy.
Let’s hope not, but someone looks desperate to make the new guy’s job more chaotic.
My war with Iran post got automatically deleted this morning, with trump looking to attack nuclear sites. Figured it must be some sort of spam filter.
I missed it but if I come across it will undelete
I saw the CEO of Walmart is calling for more stimulus…Seems like everybody gets that it’s going to be necessary…..except for the congress.
I expect now it’s too late to prevent another big dip….I expect the dip will be what finally motivates the austerity lovers in the Senate to get off their butts and pass something. I hope it’s enough to matter.
If Yellen takes the Treasury Secretary job I guess we can expect some “coordination” between the Fed and the Treasury…not sure what that would look like….but Yellen also appears to be thinking the US economy needs much more stimulus…which is not surprising.
The only one’s who should be considered for stimulus are people in restaurant/hospitality. The problem is not with the work environment, it is a problem with the customer environment.
Nice to know you understand the problem and have a one-liner to solve it.