Retail Sales Show Modest December Increase, Weakening Growth

[Purveyor]

Source: LA TIMES

By Tiffany Hsu
January 14, 2014, 7:08 a.m.

Consumers shelled out a meager 0.2% more in December than they did in the previous month, braving bitter cold to spend a few extra dollars on gasoline, clothing and food, the government said.

But the final month of the holidays showed signs of shopper abandonment after retailers front-loaded the season with heavy discounting in November, according to Tuesday’s report from the Commerce Department. Electronics and appliance merchants suffered a 2.5% sales decline last month, while vendors selling sporting goods, books and music slid 0.6%.

Overall in December, Americans spent $431.9 billion on retail purchases and food services, up 4.1% from the same month a year earlier. Total holiday sales from October through December rose 1% from 2012.

Retail sales for all of 2013 rose 4.2% from the prior year, lagging the 5.2% growth in 2012 and 7.7% growth in 2011, the Commerce Department said.



Read more: http://www.latimes.com/business/money/la-fi-mo-retail-sales-december-20140114,0,2904360.story#axzz2qOVgYvgT

[Swede Atlanta]

1. Eventually some in the 1% will realize

that their continued prosperity depends on people buying the crap they are selling.

We are a consumer-driven economy with a strong government-purchase driver. But the consumer drives the economy.

If consumers are unable (credit tightness) or unwilling (concerns about tomorrow) to go into debt and incomes for the majority of consumers are stagnant, how do they expect that people will be buying more of their crap?

[democratisphere]

3. The 1% are wiping out the 90% that got them there.

Does INSATIABLE GREED make a person blind and stupid?

[1000words]

2. But, but, but .... "recovery." Lower unemployment!

Prosperity is just around the corner.

[democratisphere]

4. Must be an election year.