Shutdown Fever: Spending on Clothing, Footwear Fell 30% in April

With extremely high unemployment and retail shutdowns across the country brought on by the COVID-19 crisis, consumer spending on clothing and footwear plummeted 30 percent in April to $213.44 billion, the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) reported Friday. The findings mark the second straight month of dramatic declines in personal consumption expenditures (PCE) for the…