Lucia Mutikani of Reuters writes:
U.S. retail sales recorded their largest decline in 11 months in December as demand fell almost across the board, tempering expectations for a sharp acceleration in consumer spending in the fourth quarter.
The Commerce Department said on Wednesday retail sales fell 0.9 percent last month after a 0.4 percent increase in November.
The Commerce Department said on Wednesday retail sales fell 0.9 percent last month after a 0.4 percent increase in November.
The news is something of a dark cloud over otherwise blue economic skies. More people employed, more job openings, lower price of oil, etc. etc.
So why did retail sales fall 0.9 percent when economists were expecting them to fall by a 0.1 percent?
Well, the same economists who did not see this coming will now deliver confident explanations for why it happened.
As for the great recovery … we shall see.