Retail sales slide more than economists' forecasts
MSNBC News Services
Updated: 11:27 a.m. ET June 14, 2005
WASHINGTON - U.S. wholesale prices plunged 0.6 percent in May, the biggest decline in more than two years, although the apparent lack of inflation pressure failed to encourage American consumers, as retail sales fell for the first time in nine months.
The Labor Department reported Tuesday that the decline in its Producer Price Index followed gains of 0.6 percent in April and 0.7 percent in March, hefty increases which had raised worries that inflation was threatening to break out of the moderate pattern of the past several years.
Three-fourths of the May decline reflected a big 3.5 percent drop in energy prices after three months of sizable gains in this area. But prices were contained in other areas as well with so-called “core” inflation, excluding energy and food. That number rose by just 0.1 percent in May, down from a 0.3 percent jump in April.
In other economic news, the Commerce Department reported that retail sales fell by 0.5 percent in May. The drop, which followed a huge 1.5 percent increase in April, reflected a decrease in auto sales and lower prices for gasoline.
linkI know why. People have no money left. The mortgage, the gas, the rent, the health insurance, the car insurance, the minimum wage...Where can they find money to buy food?