Retail sales inch up in January, but less than expected

Consumers continued to spend in January after a stellar holiday shopping season, government data showed Tuesday, but they opened their wallets a little less often than Wall Street had anticipated.

The stock markets fell after the Commerce Department reported that monthly sales at retailers and restaurants inched up 0.3 percent in January, falling short of the lofty expectations created by the heady performance of the retail sector over the past few months.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed with a 0.34 percent loss while the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index, a broader measure, declined 0.32 percent.

But in the context of year-over-year growth, January sales show a sustained resurgence in consumer spending, rising nearly 8 percent from the same month last year.

Read Full Article from Washington Post

- Posted: 2011-02-15 21:23:02

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