NEWS
An Economic Snapshot of 2018 and the Apparel Industry
This year started out with a bang with a vibrant stock market and low interest rates.
Since then, there have been a few bumps along the road as the stock market in the last few months has seen a major decline in trading values and the benchmark interest rate has inched up from 1.25 percent at the beginning of the year to 2.25 percent.
But across the country consumer confidence is up with a near-record-low U.S. unemployment rate of 3.7 percent and income-tax rates and business-tax rates down.
This has helped retailers move forward with financial gains, giving them more breathing room to figure out how they are going to use technology to improve sales and appeal to younger shoppers who want things such as virtual-reality shopping and mobile checkout.
All sorts of new retail concepts are popping up on the scene with Nordstrom opening a new kind of shop with no inventory and Macy’s taking a look at what technology can do for its bottom line.
In the middle of all of this is the issue of trade—very important for the apparel industry, which makes about 97 percent of its clothing overseas.
2018 Retrospective: Retail Vacancy Is Low but Business Is Not Easy
2018 Retrospective: Problems with Gap Brand, Overseas Growth for Zumiez
2018 Retrospective: Macy’s and Nordstrom Make Big Bets on Tech
2018 Retrospective: China Still Dominates U.S. Apparel Imports Despite Trade War With United States
