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'Unbelievable': Retail sales collapsed by the most since 2009 in December

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Retail sales plummeted by the most in nine years in December, an unexpected drop that has fueled concerns about an economy driven by consumer spending.
Retail sales plummeted by the most in nine years in December, an unexpected drop that has fueled concerns about an economy driven by consumer spending.
The Commerce Department said Thursday that retail sales sank 1.2% last month to $505.8 billion, marking the biggest drop since 2009, as receipts fell in nearly every major category. The results were well below economist expectations for a 0.1% increase.
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“In one line: Unbelievable,” said Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics. “These numbers are astonishing, and impossible to square with the Redbook chain-store sales survey, which reported surging sales in December and a record high in the week of Christmas, on the back of the plunge in gasoline prices.”
Excluding volatile categories including gasoline, cars and food, core retail sales dropped 1.

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