US Retail Sales Drop Sharply In December 2021

US retail sales declined sharply in December 2021 to fall well below market expectations, according to figures released by the Commerce Department on Friday.

Retail sales came in at $626.8 billion, plummeting 1.9% from the previous month's revised figure of $639.1 billion.

The market expectation for December was a 0.1% drop, while the figure in November was revised down to 0.2% from 0.3%.

The annual change in December 2021, however, was a 16.9% increase from the same month of 2020, when the economy was trying to recover from the coronavirus pandemic.

"Gasoline stations were up 41% from December 2020, while food services and drinking places were up 41.3% from last year," the Census Bureau said in a statement.

The contraction in retail sales suggests that high inflation continues to be a major problem for the US economy and American consumers.

The Consumer Price Index rose 7% in December, the largest 12-month increase since June 1982, the Labor Department announced earlier this week. -