Sales+Up,+But+Stores+Fret+Over+Outlook+-+Kevin+W

Explanation: Consumer spending increased in the beginning of December but slowed down towards the end. Many producers are concerned that this optimistic news is tempered by the fact that unemployment is still sky-high and wages are still not increasing. This worry is coupled with the realization that producers will need to raise prices this year due to the increase in costs of commodities and raw materials. This is especially relevant for the apparel sector since a lot of their goods are directly made from their materials such as cotton. So companies are currently trying to work out their strategy for doing so without damaging sales. At the same time, consumer sentiment is decreasing as people are pessimistic about the state of the economy. Still, with the strong government support coming, there are those who are optimistic they will encourage the growth of the economy. I believe that it's a good idea for the government to extend tax credits and use other economic means even if it did not necessarily anticipate the rise in prices of raw materials that would translate to increased rise in prices of products. This has the twofold effect of increasing consumer confidence and willingness to spend along with ability for companies to make more profit. At the same time, this is a short term solution as the government does need to also work on the issues of unemployment and increasing wages because there are some families who have concerns with basic necessities like their mortgage and don't have the opportunity to buy apparel.
 * Title of Article: Sales Up, But Stores Fret Over Outlook**
 * Source: []**
 * Vocabulary:**
 * Sales: The process of exchanging products or services in return for money or other compensation.
 * Inflation: A rise in the general level of prices of goods and services in an economy over a period of time, aka money loses value over time.
 * Commodity: A fungible (same no matter who produces it) product that is produced on a very large scale. i.e. iron
 * Raw Material: Material that has been taken directly from nature or has been unprocessed and can potentially be used as a fundamental material to make something else.
 * Unemployment: Not being employed in an occupation.
 * Tax: A financial charge imposed by a government upon producers or consumers
 * Graph:**
 * Conclusion and Evaluation:**