U.S. Retail Sales Drops For Sixth Straight Month

Daily Forex Fundamentals | Written by DailyFX | Jan 14 09 13:57 GMT |

U.S. retail sales fell 2.7% in December which was more than double forecasts of 1.2%. It was the sixth straight monthly decline which is the longest string on record. Looking at the breakdown we see that a 15.9% drop in gasoline receipts led the drop followed by a 2.5% fall in apparel sales. Consumers have continued to retrench as the economy lost over 1 million jobs over the last two months of 2008. Although, the majority of the decline was on the back of the impact of falling oil prices on gasoline prices there were across the board declines, which was evident by a 3.1% drop in the less volatile ex-autos reading. The weakening labor market has dimmed hopes for a rebound in spending which has led President-Elect Obama to add more tax breaks to the proposed fiscal stimulus plan in hopes of reviving demand. DailyFX Disclaimer Investment in the currency exchange is highly speculative and should only be done with risk capital. Prices rise and fall and past performance is no assurance of future performance. This website is an information site only. Accordingly we make no warranties or guarantees in respect of the content. The publications herein do not take into account the investment objectives, financial situation or particular needs of any particular person. Investors should obtain individual financial advice based on their own particular circumstances before making an investment decision on the basis of the recommendations in this website. While we try to ensure that all of the information provided on this website is kept up-to-date and accurate we accept no responsibility for any use made of the information provided. All intellectual property rights are the property of Daily FX. Daily FX and its affiliates, will not be held responsible for the reliability or accuracy of the information available on this site. The content herein is provided in good faith and believed to be accurate, however, there are no explicit or implicit warranties of accuracy or timeliness made by Daily FX or its affiliates. The reader agrees not to hold Daily FX or any of its affiliates liable for decisions that are based on information from this website. Daily FX highly recommends that before making a decision, the reader collects several opinions related to the decision and verifies facts from at least several independent sources.