U.S. Retail Sales Slump 1.1% In December, More Than Expected
January 18 2023 - 04:57AM
RTTF2
A report released by the Commerce Department on Wednesday showed
a steep drop in U.S. retail sales in the month of December.
The Commerce Department said retail sales tumbled by 1.1 percent
in December after slumping by a revised 1.0 percent in
November.
Economists had expected retail sales to decrease by 0.8 percent
compared to the 0.6 percent drop originally reported for the
previous month.
Andrew Hunter, Senior US Economist at Capital Economics, said
the steep drop in retail sales "adds to the evidence from the
surveys that the economy was rapidly losing momentum towards the
end of last year."
"Although GDP growth still looks to have held up over the fourth
quarter as a whole, we continue to expect the economy to fall into
recession in the first half of this year," Hunter added.
The report showed a continued slump in sales by motor vehicle
and parts dealers, which dove by 1.2 percent in December after
plunging by 2.6 percent in November.
Excluding the decrease in sales by motor vehicle and parts
dealers, retail sales still tumbled by 1.1 percent in December
following a 0.6 percent decline in November. Ex-auto sales were
expected to fall by 0.4 percent.
The Commerce Department said sales by gas stations plummeted by
4.6 percent amid a decrease in gasoline prices.
Sales by department stores also showed a 6.6 percent nosedive,
while sales by furniture and home furnishings stores tumbled by 2.5
percent.
The report also showed notable decreases in sales by electronics
and appliance stores, non-store retailers and miscellaneous store
retailers.
Closely watched core retail sales, which exclude automobiles,
gasoline, building materials and food services, fell by 0.7 percent
in December after edging down by 0.2 percent in November.
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