Alina Selyukh
Alina Selyukh is a business correspondent at NPR, where she follows the path of the retail and tech industries, tracking how America's biggest companies are influencing the way we spend our time, money, and energy.
Before joining NPR in October 2015, Selyukh spent five years at Reuters, where she covered tech, telecom and cybersecurity policy, campaign finance during the 2012 election cycle, health care policy and the Food and Drug Administration, and a bit of financial markets and IPOs.
Selyukh began her career in journalism at age 13, freelancing for a local television station and several newspapers in her home town of Samara in Russia. She has since reported for CNN in Moscow, ABC News in Nebraska, and NationalJournal.com in Washington, D.C. At her alma mater, Selyukh also helped in the production of a documentary for NET Television, Nebraska's PBS station.
She received a bachelor's degree in broadcasting, news-editorial and political science from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
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Retail sales dipped 1.1% in November compared with a month earlier as new coronavirus surges restricted outings to stores and especially restaurants.
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A Japanese café sells plants and green-tea pie. An Italian restaurant caters a prime-rib dinner. A steak-and-fries chain delivers free meals for the elderly. "Fight or flight," one manager says.
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Shoppers kept buying electronics and home improvement supplies, but sales overall rose only 0.3% in October.
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U.S. retail spending grew 1.9% last month, delivering a slight boost of confidence amid a recent spate of signs that the economic recovery has lost momentum from the pandemic's toll.
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Some shoppers looking to buy new fridges, freezers or washers have been finding themselves out of luck. The coronavirus pandemic has thrown a monkey wrench into both supply and demand.
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But U.S. shoppers spent more prudently in August and retail sales grew a tepid 0.6% from July, after extra federal jobless benefits expired and families faced a confusing back-to-school season.
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Preparing for both in-person and virtual learning has families budgeting for new school supplies like masks and bleach wipes as well as bigger purchases like laptops, speakers, desks and chairs.
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At a time of mass work from home and with many people moving to spacious suburbs, Amazon is funding a large expansion of corporate real estate and 3,500 jobs in six U.S. cities.
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Can a simple dress become a coping mechanism for the pandemic age? Billowing linen, cozy cotton, flowing silk — the house dress is a perfect fit for this moment.
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People particularly stocked up on electronics and appliances, took more trips with stops at gas stations, and cautiously went out to eat as more stores and restaurants reopened.