Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Retail Sales

The Census Bureau released its monthly retail sales report today: 1.2% drop from February.

Obviously, the consumer is sitting this "recovery" out. All of the work the Administration is doing to promote consumption is for naught. It is the wrong premise anyway, rebuilding savings is the way to go. As painful as it will be, it is the only fix.

Full year 2008 retail sales actually decreased from the full year of 2007 and the slowdown shows no signs of letting up. Retail sales for the 1st quarter of 2008 totaled $1.14 trillion. For the 1st quarter of this year, the total is $1.04 trillion. This is a drop of about 8.75%, a number that prompted retail stocks to sell off substantially today.


No comments: