Retail sales tumble in March (MUCH worse than expected)

[Pale Blue Dot]

Source: MSNBC

WASHINGTON - Sales at U.S. retailers unexpectedly fell in March, snapping two months of increases, as motor vehicle and electronic good purchases declined, according to a government report on Tuesday that indicated subdued consumer spending amid rising unemployment.

The Commerce Department said total retail sales dropped 1.1 percent after rising by a revised 0.3 percent in February, previously reported as a 0.1 percent fall.

Excluding motor vehicles and parts, sales fell 0.9 percent in March, compared to a 1 percent gain the prior month. The data highlighted the continuing problems in the U.S. auto industry, with vehicle and parts sales dropping 2.3 percent after a 3 percent decline in February.

Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30206695/

---

But don't worry, recovery's right around the corner.

[GoesTo11]

1. Looks like Obama misled us again!

The Liar in Chief is just sending us further and further down the toilet. But it will be good for our consumer economy to collapse completely, followed by the shell of finance around it.

[mix]

6. ur style sucks n/t

[pampango]

7. At least you're not rooting for President Obama (and the economy) to fail, as many repubs do. n/t

[GoesTo11]

9. Actually, I was being too sarcastic

I think that DU also has too many people rooting for the economy to fail. There's almost a glee in the way DUers often take a piece of bad economic news and say "See, it's really bad and only going to get worse forever!" I don't get why this happens - maybe just the general mistrust of power, but hey guys, we have a Democratic president now and this is the Democratic Underground. We can recognize that there's somewhat of a shitstorm in the economy, and that it's hard to find the way out, but we can start by being objective and then look for the good as much as the bad. Obama is not the Liar-in-Chief, he's generally telling it like it is (well, not exactly with TARP etc.), but we're so used to distorted statistics for the last who knows how many years that we can't handle the truth.

[Pale Blue Dot]

13. ...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=247x24524

[GoesTo11]

19. Love it

I'm for objective, not positive as a distortion, not negative as a distortion.

Your link is dead on - there are two kinds of "positive" thinkers at work: people trying to trick others and use them, and people being tricked and used.

[MUAD_DIB]

18. You forgot to add in "Democrat Party" or one of these

:sarcasm:

[smoogatz]

28. Go back to freeptardland.

Moron.

[Dawgs]

31. "Obama misled us again", when?

Did he say he was going to everything fixed by now?

[mix]

2. no job=no money=no shopping

big problem, and no one is ready for more consumer debt despite Wall Street's machinations.

[Uben]

3. No worries......

..I have already recovered. In fact, I have made so much money, I am sending half of it to my ex wife! I tell you though, I sure hated to break that twenty!

[LynnTheDem]

4. But RNC Steele just said the malls are as packed w shoppers as ever!

OMG, the rightwingnuts were WRONG again!!!

:wow:

How shocking. No really.

[Democracyinkind]

11. Of course Steele likes to claim the opposite too, depending on the audience.

[Twinguard]

25. The malls may be packed,

but only because the people there are looking for signs.

[gizmo1979]

34. The only thing people can afford

anymore is window shopping and mall walking.

[mikelgb]

5. time to pay taxes

now when returns come next month....

[boobooday]

8. Maybe people would shop more if they weren't taking it both ways

from the credit card companies -- bailing them out and getting charged usurious rates at the same time. At 30% interest you find a lot of things you can do without.

One more thing: a real cap on credit card interest rates and fees would boost consumer confidence.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

10. Sanders' usury bill went down in flames.

Thanks to the Blue Dogs.

[Selatius]

22. In Truman's and FDR's day, those Blue Dogs would've been marginalized for doing that.

And then those two would've appealed to voters to lobby the remaining Dems to get on board with such a thing. Of course, back then, credit cards didn't exist, but the term "loan shark" likely would still be familiar to people.

[Coyote_Bandit]

12. If I could figure out

how to ***NOT*** buy a damn thing that's exactly what I'd do.....'course I'm a 45 plus long term unemployed throw away.....

[FloridaJudy]

33. Yeah. Me too.

When you're unemployed and your savings have evaporated, you're not going to be doing a lot of recreational shopping.

On the other hand, the makers of generic pet food and cheap toilet paper are probably cleaning up.

[antimatter98]

14. If Americans spent wisely, retail would fall off a cliff and banks would notice too.

Key to the Obama recovery plan is to get Americans to 'go shopping' just as Bush admonished Americans
to do after 9/11.

The test will be: will Americans, even those with jobs, continue to use credit cards and home equity
loans to fund their spending? Will Americans wise up to the fact that they pay three or four times
markup at 'retail,' and cease to put up with that? You'd think that with falling incomes and usury
credit card rates, that Americans would say 'no' and stop spending and buying in that way. But there are
socioeconomic pressures of course, so my first guess at what will happen:

First guess: Americans will use credit as before and will pay the retail markup as before, and that in
a few months, we will hear that 'the recession is over' based upon American's debt-based spending, and
that those who are unemployed will be considered written off and forgotten----they will remain jobless, homeless, but
all around them, they will see the excited proclamations that 'the recession is over---good times are back!!'

More pessimistic:
My second guess: Americans will continue to spend as they have, but,
the system will crash big time, and take everyone on Main Street down with it, while
the Treasury continues to hand out more trillions to the banks, trying to restore 'confidence.' Obama will
sit by, just as he's doing now, watching, not acting, for Main Street. The unemployed and homeless
will receive limited support, just as now, and will run out of help by the end of the year if not sooner. Their
pleas will be ignored by Congress and the White House. Tent cities will expand, so will the threat of violence,
and various movements, as a recent DHS white paper has indicated--link: ( http://docs.ekrub.net/hsaradicals_orig.pdf )

[4dsc]

15. I don't understand why this was "unexpected"??

It just amazing how people are framing these stories these days..

[jaxx]

16. As someone who spent many years in retail management, I can tell you

that the holidays make the sales. This year Easter was late and March went down hard. April will come back, and as Mother's Day (the second highest buying holiday) is now just 4 weeks away this will help sales. Then will come graduations. Retail cycles along with gift buying events. Will they top last year....no. But they will show improvement.

[xchrom]

17. recommend -- i work in furniture retail --

think ikea, a little more expensive but not much. lower end.

and business is TOUGH out there.

and i'm in the bay area with a lot of job diversity.

[Mari333]

20. keep outsourcing those jobs, assholes, and this is what happens

when the pop. is working for slave wages here and abroad. wtf did they expect? Im not buying anything, who the hell can afford to buy anything? shit, most people count themselves lucky they could keep themselves warm this winter even if did mean they ate ramen noodles all day.

[depakid]

21. You never miss a chance, do you?

It's like you have something invested in doom & gloom.

They're hardly MUCH worse than expected. Maybe worse than hoped but realistic in terms of a leveling off.

[Pale Blue Dot]

24. ...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=247x24524

[depakid]

27. It's ain't about that

It's about obsession.

[Tempest]

23. One month down after two months of growth

And for some reason to you the one month is more indicative of a trend than the two months.

It never fails to amaze me at how little so many know about trend analysis.

[Dr.Phool]

30. More job losses and falling GDP ahead: White House adviser

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - White House economic adviser Christina Romer said on Tuesday that the United States will experience continued job losses and a falling gross domestic product for several more months.

"We know the economy's still sick. We know we've got several more months of job loss, for example. We know that the numbers on GDP are almost surely going to be very bad for this quarter and next," Romer, the head of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, said on NBC's "The Today Show."

The U.S. economy lost 663,000 jobs last month, driving the unemployment rate to a 25-year high of 8.5 percent. Economists polled by Reuters expect the unemployment rate to rise to 9.8 percent a year from now.

http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE53D2J320090414

[Name removed]

26. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[smoogatz]

29. Looks like pent-up demand has played out.

Predictably enough. We're not out of the woods yet, I don't think.

[high density]

32. Yes, how dare people get their hopes up!

WE MUST CRASH AND BURN!!@ YEEEEEAAAAAAH~!!!!!!!