U.S. Economy: Retail Sales Drop in October by Most on Record

[RedEarth]

Source: (Bloomberg)

Nov. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Retail sales and prices of goods imported to the U.S. dropped by the most on record, signaling the economy may be in its worst slump in decades.

Purchases fell 2.8 percent in October, the fourth straight decline, the Commerce Department said today in Washington. Labor Department figures showed import prices dropped 4.7 percent, pointing to a rising danger of deflation, and a private report said consumer confidence this month remained near the lowest level since 1980.

``The weakness in growth is intensifying and inflation pressures have evaporated,'' said James O'Sullivan, a senior economist at UBS Securities LLC in Stamford, Connecticut, who accurately projected the decline in sales. ``Deflation is a word that will be increasingly used over the coming months.''



Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601068&sid=anB...

[kestrel91316]

1. On a local note, I don't know if it means anything much, but the Peet's

coffee down the street is the busiest I have seen it in over a year all this past week.

And my business (cat hospital) is also up noticeably this past week.

[CAcyclist]

6. Hi Kestrel, it's nice to see another one of us on this site.

My clinic, on the other hand, is slow, although our gross is up over last year.

[kestrel91316]

9. Well hi there!

There was another vet here a couple of years ago but she was posting on Pets Forum and got a rather nasty reception from the anti-vet crowd over there and I haven't seen here here in a long time.........

Have you heard yet about Schwarzengger's plan to tax vet services? BAD IDEA, and CVMA is launching a coordinated plan but Ahnuld is trying to rush it through by Dec 1 so not sure how much we can do in that little time.

Glad to see a colleague here anyway. Most vets are apparently Republicans. Sigh.

[Skittles]

12. I don't see Peet's around here but I picked up some in Chicago

it's very good

I will always try to get my cats any needed medical attention because I know the angst caused by not doing that will be much greater than the angst of the bill.

[Zorra]

2. Another milestone for Bu*h and the republicans.

Geez, the strikeouts just keep on coming.

[no_hypocrisy]

3. Gotta luv them free markets . . .

[lligrd]

4. This Year, The Real War On Christmas Begins

as people cut way back on spending. Maybe Christmas will regain its original meaning in the process.

[4_TN_TITANS]

7. Excellent observation!!!

Conserative fiscal policy is the real killer of Christmas (at least in the material sense). I'm going to use that one for a LTTE.

[RedEarth]

5. Survey: Planned Holiday Spending Off Sharply

Survey: Planned Holiday Spending Off Sharply
by CalculatedRisk on 11/14/2008 11:54:00 AM
From American Research Group, Inc.: Shoppers Cut 2008 Christmas Spending Plans in Half from 2007

Shoppers around the country say they are planning to spend an average of $431 for gifts this holiday season, down from $859 last year according to the twenty-third annual survey on holiday spending from the American Research Group, Inc. The overall average planned spending is down almost 50% from 2007 and it is the lowest level of planned spending recorded by the American Research Group since 1991.

http://calculatedrisk.blogspot.com/2008/11/survey-plann...

[Alcibiades]

8. Deflation--sweet!

As someone who has zero assets and a lot of debt, that works for me. Bad for most folks, though.

[customerserviceguy]

10. Interesting

It said that restaurant sales were up. That seems rather curious to me.

These are October figures, I would expect to see a turnaround in expectations after Election Day, so November should start looking up. Yes, Sen. Obama was leading the polls throughout October, but I wouldn't have blamed anyone for holding their breath, waiting for election theft.

If gasoline still keeps coming down, that might really help expectations turn around this month.

[Skittles]

11. I can't imagine why people would stop buying with a depression looming

no I cannot INDEED

[Odin2005]

13. OMFG, did I just see the word DEFLATION!?!

We are SOOOOO fucked...

[amandabeech]

14. Excluding gasoline, retail sales dropped 1.5%.

That's from a paragraph near the bottom of the article.

Dropping gasoline and diesel prices will help a lot of people and businesses right now. It is a stimulus right there and means that fewer $$$$ are leaving the country.

Long term, of course, we need to use a LOT fewer barrels of oil and tons of coal.

Right now, though, this is not all bad news.