The U.S. Census Bureau announced on Friday that retail and food services sales for October 2008 with seasonal adjustments was down 2.77% from September and down 3.48% compared to a year ago. Economists had expected a decline of 2.1%. Retail sales without including autos (excluding autos makes the data less volatile) was down 2.20% compared to the previous month and up 1.38% compared to the previous year. Retail sales adjusted for inflation declined by 7.69% in October compared to the previous year. This is the worst annual decline since June 1980.
This graph on the right looks at retail employment versus regular employment year over year change. From 1968 - 1987, retail employment was stronger than regular employment. From 1987 retail employment has declined more at the lows and has had drops where regular employment was flatter. Currently more jobs are being lost on the retail side than in the general economy. The retail sector seems to be bracing for a rough recession.
Sphere: Related Content
No comments:
Post a Comment