BREAKING NEWS: US retail sales falls, shoppers battle inflation

The United States retail sales continued their fall in December, dropping by 1.1 per cent as inflation remained high, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday.

According to a CNN report, that is the largest monthly decline since December 2021, and practically every category (except for building materials, groceries and sporting goods) saw sales drop from the prior month.

Economists had expected sales to fall by just 0.8% for the month, according to Refinitiv. The November number was revised down to -1 per cent.

All in all, the final retail sales report for 2022 shows a muted finish to a holiday season that crept even further into October versus the traditional late-November and December.

October was the last strong retail sales month of 2022, as discounting and slowing inflation prompted consumers to shop more then, said Kayla Bruun, economic analyst at Morning Consult.