Key Points:
- Sales of consumer staples grew heavily due to uncertainty over Covid-19.
- Alcohol followed a similar pattern in March.
- However, alcohol has seen more growth in sales through April.
ECONOMIST CORNER:
The lockdowns in response to COVID-19 have raised concerns of increases in substance abuse. This data on sales of alcohol relative to consumer consumer goods suggest these concern are warranted. Initially, in early and mid-March, trends in alcohol sales tended to track those of durable consumer goods. More recently, however, alcohol sales growth has been consistently higher.