This holiday season, people in the United States should be prepared for price hikes and delays in shipments for holiday merchandise. A warning has been issued by the Federal Reserve on October 10, 2021. Mary Dale, the head of the San Francisco branch of the US central bank while talking to a leading daily said that at present they are encouraging the consumers to get out early and begin holiday shopping  before they actually run out.

Dale added that while shopping for the upcoming holidays, people are buying things and are also told that they will not be getting those items until after the holidays are over. The Fed official also said that people can expect delays and there could also be some pressure on the holiday item prices. To address the concern, it will be ideal to bring in more supply to the labor market. Many people have left the labor market during the pandemic due to lack of work. For now the actual solution would be increasing the production of goods and speed up the flow.

But many people are unable to return to the labor market due to a number of issues including health concerns or childcare. A strong rebound in the labor market has been noticed in the month of June and July, 2021 as more than a million jobs are being added every month but then it slowed down in August and September, 2021. In the month of September, only 194,000 jobs were created. The year 2020 saw the coronavirus surge that created a massive backlog worth billions worth of clothing, electronics, toys, vehicles and furniture.

A number of Americans could save some cash during the COVID-19 lockdown and that has helped to increase the demand with a push in the prices as well. The lack of manpower has also forced a number of supply chains to lag behind the consumer demand.

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