NRF calls on Congress to stimulate economy
January 16, 2008
New York—The National Retail Federation (NRF) board of directors is calling on Congress and President Bush to enact economic-stimulus legislation that would put dollars back in consumers’ pockets to fuel and sustain economic growth.
“This action shows how seriously the current economic situation is taken by the CEOs of the nation’s major retail companies,” NRF President and Chief Executive Officer Tracy Mullin said in a statement released yesterday. “Consumer spending and retail sales are the backbone of the nation’s economy. Stimulus that helps consumer spending will benefit all industries in the private sector.”
The NRF board, meeting at the association’s 97th Annual Convention in New York City, unanimously adopted a resolution yesterday afternoon emphasizing that consumer spending represents 70 percent of the U.S. economy and calling on lawmakers to act quickly.
“The nation’s economy is in a slowdown,” the resolution said. “Consumers will be under continued financial stress in 2008 as a result of high energy costs, the fallout from the housing slump, sluggish employment and income growth.”
Yesterday’s vote came after the U.S. Commerce Department announced that retail sales for December (excluding automobiles, gas stations and restaurants) increased just 1.7 percent unadjusted over 2006 and decreased 0.4 percent seasonally adjusted from November. Combined November-December holiday sales totaled $469.9 billion, a 3 percent increase that fell short of the NRF’s earlier prediction of a 4 percent increase. The increase was the lowest since 2002, when holiday sales rose 1.3 percent.
On Monday, the NRF issued its 2008 economic forecast, calling for a 3.5 percent increase in retail sales over 2007. The NRF expects the housing slump and slow job growth to restrain sales.
The NRF is the largest retail trade association in the world, with members including department, discount, drug, grocery, independent and specialty stores, catalog merchants, chain restaurants and e-tailers, as well as the industry’s key trading partners of retail goods and services.
For more information about the NRF, visit its Web site, NRF.com.