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Retail Sales Take Steep Plunge

Fall twice as far as anticipated

By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff

Posted Jan 14, 2009 8:38 AM CST

(Newser) – Retail sales fell more than twice as much as analysts predicted in December, thanks to mounting job losses and reduced credit, Bloomberg reports. Sales fell 2.7%, extending the longest string of declines on record to 6 consecutive months. Purchases excluding automobiles slid 3.1%. “Consumers are pulling back,” said one economist. “The first half is going to be bleak in terms of consumer spending and economic activity.”

Staff remove posters of their closing sales at a branch of Woolworths in Camden Town, north London, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2009 as they close for the final time.
Staff remove posters of their closing sales at a branch of Woolworths in Camden Town, north London, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2009 as they close for the final time.   (AP Photo/Akira Suemori)
A shopper passes a retail store advertising a sale, Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2008, in Boston.
A shopper passes a retail store advertising a sale, Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2008, in Boston.   (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)
In this Dec. 20, 2008 file photo holiday shoppers make their way through the Northshore Mall in Peabody, Mass.
In this Dec. 20, 2008 file photo holiday shoppers make their way through the Northshore Mall in Peabody, Mass.   (AP Photo/Lisa Poole, File)
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