Economics

Analysts Are Questioning the Latest Retail Sales Figures

Disappointing online results have experts on high alert
More retailers report holiday-quarter results in coming weeks

U.S. December Retail Sales Suffer Biggest Drop in Nine Years

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By Matthew Townsend, Steve Matthews, and Matthew Boesler

February 14, 2019 at 2:04 PM UTC

Updated on

February 14, 2019 at 10:30 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

So much for a merry Christmas. That is, if you trust the numbers.

Commerce Department figures released Thursday show U.S. retail sales fell 1.2 percent in December from the previous month, the most since 2009, rather than the slight increase economists had forecast. Even more confusing: There was a pullback in a measure based largely on internet sales, which had been expected to be the retailing industry’s saving grace this holiday season.