Partly True: Trump: U.S. retail sales are through the roof.

Retail sales in the U.S. contracted for three months and touched a record low in April before registering the biggest jump in May 2020.President Donald Trump claimed that retail sales in the U.S. “are through the roof” during a town hall conducted by ABC News. He referred to retail sales while responding to a voter’s question to substantiate his argument that his government had done an excellent job in tackling the coronavirus crisis. Trump’s claims are partly true as retail sales jumped 18.2 percent in May as per data from the U.S. Department of Commerce. It was the biggest advance since the government started tracking the series in 1992, reported Reuters. However, the jump was preceded by the biggest record drop of 14.7 percent in retail sales in April, stated Washington post. Retail sales had started shrinking in February, clocking a decline of less than one percent. The contraction was more pronounced in March, with retail sales decreasing by 8.2 percent. Economists attributed the shrinkage to the beginning of the closure of sections of the economy to control the spread of the coronavirus disease. The upward growth that started in May continued in June with retail sales witnessing a growth of 8.4 percent. The growth slowed to 1.2 percent in July.