Americans Still Grip Wallets Tightly
Retail sales edged up by just 0.2 percent in March.
April 14, 2008— -- WASHINGTON (AP) -- Consumers, beset by a credit crunch, rising energy and food costs and a prolonged housing slump, stayed away from the malls in March. Retail sales posted only a small increase after a big drop in February.
The Commerce Department reported Monday that retail sales edged up 0.2 percent in March after a 0.4 percent decline in February. The March gain primarily reflected higher costs for gasoline, which climbed to record highs. Excluding a big 1.1 percent rise in sales at gasoline service stations, retail sales would have been flat last month.
The new report did nothing to dispel worries that consumers will cut back so sharply on spending that the country will tumble into a recession. Consumer spending accounts for two-thirds of total economic activity.
The 0.2 percent increase in retail sales was slightly better than the 0.1 percent increase that analysts had expected and the February decline was revised from an even-bigger 0.6 percent plunge that had been initially reported.
However, the March gain reflected the big jump in sales at gasoline service stations. Sales in most areas either declined or posted lackluster increases such as a tiny 0.2 percent rise in auto sales.
Sales at department stores and general merchandise stores such as Wal-Mart fell by 0.6 percent in March while sales at specialty clothing stores were down 0.5 percent. Demand at these stores had been hurt by the fact that Easter came extremely early this year at a time when much of the country was still blanketed by frigid weather that chilled people's inclination to go shopping for spring clothes.
