U.S. retail sales fall 1.1% in March,weaker than analysts expected

• Source: Xinhua
• [09:23 April 15 2009]
• Comments

Retail sales in the United States fell by 1.1 percent in March, much weaker than the 0.3 percent rise that analysts expected, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday.

The unexpected fall in retail sales was the biggest decline in three months and followed a revised 0.3 percent increase in February, originally reported as a 0.1 percent drop.

In January, retail sales rose by 1.9 percent, following six consecutive months of declines.

For March, auto sales dropped 2.3 percent after having plunged 3 percent in February. Auto sales last month were 23.5 percent below the year-ago level as the country's automakers struggle through their deepest downturn in decades.

While excluding autos, retail sales declined 0.9 percent in March after a 1 percent rise in February. That also was worse than analysts' forecasts of a flat reading for last month.

Sales at appliance stores fell 5.9 percent in March and furniture stores reported a 1.7 percent decline. Sales at specialty clothing stores dropped 1.8 percent, and general merchandise stores saw their sales dip 0.2 percent last month.

Meanwhile, sales at gasoline stations were down 1.6 percent, while sales at food and beverage stores gained 0.5 percent in March.

Last month's drop in retail sales delivered a setback to hopes that the economy's steep slide could be bottoming out.

The weakness in retail sales was reflecting the weak economy that has been in a recession since December 2007.

The overall economy, as measured by the gross domestic product, fell at an annual rate of 6.3 percent in the final three months of last year, the biggest slide in about 25 years. Economists project the economy will continue to decline in the first quarter of this year.