Iraqi war fears and a icy winter blast sent February sales at US stores and shopping malls into the steepest plunge since the aftermath of the September 11th attacks.
Retail sales plummeted 1.6 per cent from the previous month, the sharpest plunge since November 2001, after rising 0.3 per cent in January, US Commerce Department figures showed today.
"It is really painting a picture of an economy that is dead in the water," said economist Mr Sal Guatieri. "You cannot deny the underlying negatives" he added.
In February, US consumer confidence had crashed to a 10-year low, US firms cut 308,000 jobs and the diplomatic wrangling persisted ahead of a possible war in Iraq.
The decline in retail sales was about three times the size expected by Wall Street analysts. But when compared with February 2002, retail sales were up 2.6 per cent.
A breakdown of the February figures showed car sales fell 3.4 per cent, building materials plunged by a record 7.5 per cent, clothing declined 3.6 per cent, groceries fell 1 per cent, sporting goods slid 1.6 per cent and electronics and appliances eased per cent.
Sales at restaurants and bars slipped 0.5 percent.
Among the few areas showing an improvement, sales at general merchandise stores rose 1.2 per cent, Internet shopping and catalogue sales climbed 1.3 per cent.
AFP