Retail in the US take a dive in December
Everyone is feeling the crunch. Times are indeed hard especially for those going into the business of retail. and according to this report in the Financial Times, retails sales has seen a decline last December, even if it was the holiday shopping season. Compared to last year, sales we off 9.8%. The decline was more than what economists have expected and because of this, there is a predicted 1.2% fall in the coming months following.
“After a great run, a US consumer besieged by falling wealth, job losses, collapsing income and a need to save is finally tapped out,” said Alan Ruskin, a strategist at RBS Greenwich Capital.
The monthly drop, which accelerated from a revised decrease of 2.1 per cent in November, was fuelled by reduced turnover at petrol stations, where sales fell 15.9 per cent. More than half of the decline in sales in December was due to lower petrol prices, noted Ian Sheperdson, chief US economist at High Frequency Economics. Meanwhile, sales excluding cars and parts were down 3.1 per cent.
Sales at clothing stores were down 2.5 per cent in December, while those at department stores fell 2.3 per cent and at home furnishing stores by 1.8 per cent.
Retailers have suffered their worst holiday season for decades, as slumping consumer spending and bad weather took their toll. The International Council of Shopping Centers reported a 2.2 per cent decline in the index of comparable sales for November and December, the biggest month-on-month fall since it started tracking the data in 1970.
