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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsRetail Purchases In U.S. Unexpectedly Decrease 0.5%
Retail sales in the U.S. unexpectedly declined for a third straight month in June, a sign limited employment gains are taking a toll on the biggest part of the economy.
The 0.5 percent drop followed a 0.2 percent decrease in May, Commerce Department figures showed today in Washington. The decline was worse than the most-pessimistic forecast in a Bloomberg News survey in which the median projection called for a 0.2 percent rise. Purchases last fell for three or more months in July through December 2008.
A weakening job market is sapping households of the confidence and income gains needed to boost expenditures, which account for about 70 percent of the economy. Without gains in spending at retailers such as Target Corp. and Macys Inc. (M), the expansion will have a difficult time gaining momentum.
People are just pulling back, and youre not likely to see a significant pickup from here, said Michael Carey, chief economist for North America at Credit Agricole CIB in New York. This was certainly a slowdown from the first quarter.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-07-16/retail-purchases-in-u-s-unexpectedly-decreased-0-5-in-june.html
phantom power
(25,966 posts)earthside
(6,960 posts)Unfortunately, it is in all the wrong places.
Bank/Wall Street bailouts.
Millionaires and billionaires whose tax rates are so low that they have no incentive to reinvest.
A trillion dollars a year down a rat hole for mostly unnecessary federal national defense/security.
Until working/middle class Americans start valuing their own labor and get over this fantasy they they can be as rich as Rmoney someday, nothing is going to change.
This is a depression (that what it is when we've lost 40 percent of our wealth in the last five years) and we are not getting out of it with the same old fixes from the past -- this slump is systemic and it will take a foundational reform/revolution to make working people prosperous once again.
So, of course, retail spending is going down and unemployment is stuck at a real 20 percent ... because we won't get serious about improving our lot. Most Americans still want a magic solution that will require no altering of their lifestyle; they just cut back a bit here and there but still buy the SUV or have five dogs or get a their tenth new tattoo or do whatever they can to satisfy the demands of a popular culture created in the marketing departments of mega-transnational corporations.
Marrah_G
(28,581 posts)People would have good paying jobs that allowed them to spend.
Lionessa
(3,894 posts)Talk about disconnected from reality. Most of us 99%ers totally expect it and expect it will be getting worse.
Lindsay
(3,276 posts)I keep saying I want a job as an expecter. I can be wrong at least as consistently as those guys have been.
annabanana
(52,791 posts)grasswire
(50,130 posts)It was particularly visible at Easter at my local Kroger. Aisles of candy & novelties left over sat there for nearly a month. Normally the stuff is nearly gone by the holiday.
reformist2
(9,841 posts)Obviously Repugs have no answers, but Obama hasn't exactly been talking about this either. Hopefully in his second term. :/
When people stop having "services" performed for them, and only shop to replace necessities, this is what happens..