Retail sales in the United States declined for the first time in 2009.

Retail sales in the United States fell in March 2009 to 1.1 per cent compared to the previous month, reported Bloomberg. The results were much worse than forecasts of economists, who expected an increase of 0.3 percent. This was the first decline since the beginning of the year. In February, sales rose by 0.3 percent in January - at 1 percent.
The decline of sales in the U.S. is due to the growth of unemployment, which limits the ability of consumers. According to previously published reports the U.S. Department of Labor, unemployment in March reached 8.5 percent, the highest level since 1983.
At the same time, it became known that the prices of American manufacturers fell by 1.2 per cent. Continue after a break in January or February of price declines shows that the threat of deflation for the U.S. economy remains substantial.
The negative macroeconomic statistics came out almost at the same time with the statement made by the head Fed Ben Bernanke, who said that the pace of economic recession in the United States has slowed and the first signs of recovery after the deepest recession in decades.
Reduce the rate of retail sales show that household expenditures in the United States will continue to decline. Economists estimate the drop in consumer spending, which constitute 70 percent of U.S. GDP, 0.5 percent in the first quarter. In general, the U.S. economy to shrink by 5 percent. In the last quarter of 2008, the recall is fixed at 6.3 percent drop - the worst result in 50-ies of the last century.