Retail Sales fall for second straight month
The 0.2 percent decrease followed a similar decline in April that was previously reported as a gain, Commerce Department figures showed today in Washington. Last month’s drop matched the median forecast of 79 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. Sales excluding automobiles slumped by the most in two years.
Limited gains in payrolls and unemployment exceeding 8 percent signal it’ll be tough for consumer spending, the biggest part of the economy, to accelerate from a first-quarter advance that was the biggest in a year. At the same time, lower prices at the gasoline pump are providing relief for Americans, helping sustain sales at retailers like Target Corp. (TGT)
“The consumer is pulling back,” said Michael Brown, an economist at Wells Fargo Securities LLC in Charlotte, North Carolina, who correctly forecast the drop in sales. “There isn’t a lot of job creation. We will continue to see softer numbers.”
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-13/retail-sales-in-u-s-fall-for-second-month-signaling-slowdown.html
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