The U.S. Census Bureau announced the Retail Sales numbers for February 2008 today. Seasonally adjusted, February was down 0.6% from January 2008 but was up 2.6% from February 2007. Gasoline station sales were up 20.2% from February 2007 caused by the rise in gas prices.
Adjusted for Inflation, retail sales are now down year over year for the 3rd month in a row. It is rare for retail sales to decline without being in a recession. This is especially the case if you factor out one month declines which are often sandwiched between strong months. Retail Sales sustained declines outside of recession periods in 1951 and 1967. Auto sales are volatile and often create large short term swings.
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