Retail sales crater a record 16.4% in April

Sales at U.S. retailers sank a record 16.4% in April after coronavirus lockdowns shuttered much of the economy, cost millions of jobs and spawned an unprecedented slump in consumer spending.

Retail sales tumbled in every category except online shopping, the government said Friday. Sales also sank by a revised 8.3% in March, easily marking the worst back-to-back declines in modern American history.

Economists polled by MarketWatch expected a 12.5% plunge.

Receipts at auto dealers fell more than 12% as sales fell to the lowest level in decades. Gas stations also saw a 29% plunge in sales as oil prices slumped and stay-at-home orders kept Americans off the roads.

Even if those two categories are set aside, the damage was almost unfathomable. Sales excluding gas and autos — two of the largest sources of retail spending — sales sank 16.2%.

Grocery stores, which benefited from consumer stockpiling in March, posted a 13% decline in sales. Receipts also tanked 79% at clothing stores, 60% at electronics stores, 59% at furniture stores, 30% at bars and restaurants and 15% at pharmacies.

To illustrate the damage, consider apparel sales. Receipts at clothing stores dropped to $2.4 billion from $22.1 billion in February, the last month before the pandemic.

A few retailers stood out. Home centers such as Home Depot HD, +1.45% and Lowe’s L, -1.18%, which remained open, only recorded a 3.5% decline.

The only real winners were internet stores such as Amazon.com Inc. AMZN, -0.62% and large chains like Walmart WMT, +0.03% with a big online presence. Receipts at internet retailers jumped 8.4%.

Those companies have been hiring thousands of workers to handle a flood of online orders from customers staying at home or too worried to venture out.

It’s worth noting that the government’s effort to track sales was hindered by so many stores being closed. But even if its sales estimate is somewhat off, there’s no doubt that retailers just suffered their worst month since the government first began keeping track in 1967.