Consumer spending up in most areas, except clothing

The nation's economy made huge rebounds in the first quarter of 2021, according to new data released Friday by the U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA).

Personal income in March increased $4.21 trillion, or 21.1%, while consumer spending jumped $616 billion during the month, a 4.2% increase over the previous month.

Meanwhile, BEA estimated the U.S. gross domestic product grew during the first quarter of the year at a 6.4% annual clip.

The U.S. Census Bureau also reported last week total retail sales, excluding nonstore retailers, in January were up 8.0% with 41 states reporting significant year-over-year percentage increases from January 2020 (pre-pandemic) to January 2021. In Missouri, that increase was even greater, with the state showing a 10.4% increase in retail sales in January compared to the same month in 2020.

Certain types of retail sales fared better than others, according to the Census Bureau data. For instance, sales for sporting goods, hobby materials, musical instruments and books jumped 24.7% in January compared to the same month in 2020 (Missouri's increase was 13.5%), but clothing and clothing accessory sales fell 9.2% nationally from January to January (down 5.1% in the Show Me State).

The reason for the decrease in clothing sales could be related to one of two factors — either we have a growing population of nudists in America or more people are working from home these days and don't need "work" clothes.

My guess is the latter explanation is probably more accurate.

A registered nurse named Morgan adjusts a "walking boot" on my broken left foot at about 2 a.m. Sunday in the emergency department at Saint Francis Medical Center. She and millions of other nurses across the country will be recognized Thursday during National Nurses Day.Jay Wolz

Recognizing nurses

You never know when you're going to meet a nurse.

I found that out the hard way late Saturday night after tumbling down a flight of stairs and breaking my foot. I literally heard something "snap" as I fell to the floor.

X-rays in the emergency department at Saint Francis Medical Center confirmed fractures in not one, not two, but three bones between the ankle and toes of my left foot. The ER physician in charge of my care said in all his years in emergency medicine, mine was the most unusual broken foot he had ever seen. (My friends and family will tell you I never do anything halfway.)

During my two-hour ER visit, I was cared for by several nurses who told me they never know from one minute to the next what might walk — or in my case hop — through the door.

I'm taking a few inches of my business column to recognize the nurses who cared for me over the weekend, but Thursday all nurses throughout the United States will be recognized during National Nurses Day.

According to my research, there were nearly 4.1 million registered nurses and well over 920,000 licensed practical nurses in the U.S. as of late 2019.

Nursing is the largest health care profession in the nation. RNs, LPNs, nurse aids and other types of nurses make up the largest staff component in most hospitals, but beyond that, they also provide care in a variety of clinic settings, patient homes, schools, long-term care facilities, public health agencies and mental health centers.

Although most nurses I know feel theirs is a rewarding profession, I think it's also safe to say they work in an increasingly challenging and stressful environment, which, according to organizations such as the Missouri Hospital Association, has contributed to significantly high turnover and vacancy rates for nursing positions.

This at a time when the demand for nursing professionals is projected to grow exponentially in the coming decades at rates much faster than many other occupations.

New technologies in the health care industry are also contributing to the growing need for nurses. Telehealth is a case in point. Although it provides additional access to care for patients, especially those in rural regions, it also compounds the workload for nurses with telehealth responsibilities.

Last week, the University of Missouri released results of a study by a doctoral nursing student there who reviewed activities nurses had to complete when analyzing and documenting data transmitted from diabetic patients' in-home telehealth devices to family practices affiliated with MU Health Care. She compared the results to nursing activities required during traditional "in-person" appointments and found telehealth required about twice as much time and effort.

One reason for this, she said, is patients who went to their doctor's office averaged a follow up appointment every three months, but patients who used online technology submitted their blood glucose and blood pressure data several times a week, requiring more documentation on the part of telehealth nurses. (It should also be noted, as a result of increased communication with nurses, the telehealth patients received more guidance to help them monitor their chronic conditions more closely. That, according to a news release from Mizzou about the study, led to more medication adjustments and lifestyle changes, ultimately resulting in better health outcomes.)

Password security

How safe is your company's password? For that matter, how safe is the password (or passwords) you use on your personal computer devices?

According to industry experts, weak passwords are among the top causes of data breaches in business, not to mention hacks of personal accounts.

If you're like me, you have lots of passwords for work, social media accounts, streaming services, online shopping websites, and so on. I've tried to make my passwords consistent so I can remember them, but some websites require passwords that are case sensitive, other passwords have to include numbers and "special characters." And then there are sites that make users change their passwords every few months to help keep user accounts safe.

NordPass, a password management company, recently studied computer system breaches affecting Fortune 500 companies. More than 15 million breaches were categorized into 17 industries and found weak passwords were among the top causes of business data breaches.

Among other things, the study found the top 10 passwords in the retail and e-commerce industry were:

1. password

2. aaron431

3. 123456

4. unknown

5. shumon

6. The company's name or a variation of it

7. abc123

8. default

9. ABC123

10.The company's name plus the number "1"

More information is available at www.nordpass.com. No password required.

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