US Retail Sales Drop in December in Most Recent Categories

Retail sales in the US shrank 0.9 percent in December. It is the biggest drop since January as demand fell for nine of thirteen major retail categories:

Electronic and Appliance stores, making up 2% of retailers, fell -1.6%

Clothing retailers, making up 5% of retailers, fell -0.3%

Online stores, making up 9.2% of retailers, fell -0.3%

Building Material/Garden dealers, making up 6% of retailers, fell -1.9%

In contrast, receipts rose at Furniture stores 0.8%, Health Care store 0.5% and Sporting Goods/Hobby/Book & Music 0.2%.

Total sales for the 12 months of 2014 were up 4% from 2013.

Source: Trading Economics