Retail Sales Fell in March

Washington, DC, April 14, 2009--U.S. retail sales fell a seasonally adjusted 1.1% in March after two months of gains had boosted hopes of a rebound in consumer spending.

The Commerce Department said that sales for January and February were revised higher in Tuesday's report by 0.5 percentage points, but the results were still much weaker than expected by economists, who thought sales would rise 0.2% in March.

"This report is a reminder that the U.S. economy is not out of the woods, yet," wrote Harm Bandholz, an economist for UniCredit Markets.

With the recession entering its 16th month, consumers have been battered by staggering job destruction and the loss of trillions in wealth in their homes and investments.

Sales fell in March for almost every type of store except the necessities of food and drugs. Sales of durable goods were particularly soft in March.

Excluding the 2.3% decline in auto sales, retail sales fell 0.9%, compared with the 0.2% decline expected. Excluding both gasoline and autos, sales fell 0.8%.

In the past year, sales are down 9.4%. The figures are not adjusted for price changes.

The government's estimates for March could be understating the health of the retail sector, because this year's late Easter pushed some sales that would typically occur in March into April.

Sales of furniture fell 1.7% and sales at building materials stores dropped 0.6%.