The U.S. federal government is playing an active role in consumer spending with three stimulus packages passed in the past 12 months, which is helping support the economy during this pandemic-induced recession. Americans have received thousands of dollars from the government and are opting to spend their newfound discretionary income on more goods and services, not to mention savings and paying bills. “It helped a lot of individuals get by,” says Jack Kleinhenz, chief economist for the National Retail Federation (NRF), a trade organization for the retail industry. “It was also a good shot in the arm for holiday sales. We had a very good holiday season, a much stronger one than what we forecasted. It was up 8.3 percent year-over-year for November and December combined.” Similarly the widespread implementation of the COVID-19 vaccines manufactured by Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson are helping boost in-store shopping for goods and services around the country as people become more confident in patronizing stores and restaurants. As of this writing, about 50.8 percent of all Americans have received at least one dose of one of the COVID-19 vaccines, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The declining infection rates …
