Credit, Economy and Financial News from TruckingFactor.com

Retail Sales Drop in March After Two Straight Gains

Retail sales fell 1.1% in March, the Commerce Department reported, led by a big drop in auto sales as well as declines at clothing stores, appliance outlets and furniture stores. The decline followed an upwardly revised 0.3% increase in February and a 1.9% jump in January. The weak showing in March may, in part, be due to a later Easter season compared to 2008 when Easter fell in March. This year, many shoppers did much of their Easter shopping in April and may have put off other purchases until then as well. Auto sales fell 2.3% in March and were down 23.5% from March 2008, underscoring the severity of the downturn in that industry. Excluding autos, retail sales fell 0.9% in March. Sales at appliance stores plunged 5.9%, and fell 1.8% at apparel stores. Furniture stores reported a 1.7% sales decline and general merchandise store sales dipped 0.2%. Sales at gasoline stations fell 1.6%, while food and beverage stores saw one of the few increases for the month, a gain of 0.5%.

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Date Last Updated: 04/20/2009