Retail, food service sales fall 0.6% in November

Dec. 15 (UPI) -- Advance monthly retail and food services sales in November fell a seasonally adjusted 0.6% in a possible sign of the economic slowdown going into the holiday season.

The total was worse than the 0.3% predicted by analysts from Dow Jones. The economy grew a revised 1.3% in October, according to figures released Thursday by the Commerce Department. The $689.4 billion the economy generated last month was still 6.5% more than the same time in 2021.

Retail trade drove the downturn, falling 0.8%, led by drops in motor vehicle and parts dealers (2.3%), furniture (2.6%), building materials and supplies (2.5%) and department stores (2.9%).

Food and beverage store sales were up 0.8% while food services and drinking places increased their sales by 0.9%.

Gasoline station sales continued to fall after reaching record levels over the summer, tumbling 0.1% in November and 4.9% for the quarter from June to August.

"With weak global growth and the strong dollar compounding the domestic drag from higher interest rates, we suspect this weakness is a sign of things to come," Andrew Hunter, senior U.S. economist at Capital Economics, said.

The news comes as the Labor Department reported that initial jobless benefit claims fell during the week ending Dec. 10 from the week before by 11,000 applications. First-time unemployment insurance filings had been on the rise in the quarter as companies lay off workers.