The Consumer Retreats

The first number in a week that will produce many of them, culminating with monthly non-farm payrolls, is not promising for the recovery. As Bloomberg reports:

Consumer spending fell in December as households took a breather from the break-neck pace of buying that characterized the fourth quarter. Household purchases declined 0.3 percent, the biggest decline since September 2009, after a 0.5 percent November gain, Commerce Department figures showed Monday in Washington. The median forecast of 68 economists in a Bloomberg survey called for a 0.2 percent drop. Incomes and the saving rate rose.

Late last week we saw a discouraging GDP number for the last quarter.  Could be that things are not going quite as well as the administration believes and brags.

Which, unlike all these economic numbers, is not the least bit “unexpected.”

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