Retailers are enjoying the fruits of a robust economy and high levels of consumer confidence, thanks in part to low unemployment and rising wages.
Wages (or, from the retailer’s point of view, labor costs) have risen in many areas thanks to competition for workers as well as to new local and state minimum wage laws, although more broadly a wage gap between higher and lower-income consumers persists in the U.S. Along with breathing room provided by last year’s tax cuts, that rise is contributing to the recent robustness of recent earnings reports, according to Retail Metrics President Ken Perkins.
