U.S. News: Consumer Caution Dents Retailers' Holiday Hopes
A downturn in consumer spending threw a new domestic worry into mounting global turmoil, threatening to again undercut hopes for a breakout performance in the U.S. economy.</br></br>Retail sales fell 0.3% in September, the Commerce Department said Wednesday. The broad-based decline came alongside weakening consumer confidence and minimal wage growth that has weighed on the recovery in recent years.</br></br>While spending at retailers is up 4.3% from a year earlier, double the pace of inflation, the September stumble continues a choppy pattern that shows many Americans are cautious heading into the holiday shopping season.</br></br>"We're still trudging along, but not at the accelerating pace that we'd like to see," said Moody's Analytics economist Scott Hoyt. The data don't change expectations for modest U.S. growth in gross domestic product, "but it's a cautionary note."</br></br>September's reading also could be reversed or revised next month. A slowdown from strong summer auto sales, falling gasoline prices and the timing of Apple Inc.'s iPhone 6 release all played a role in the latest data. Earlier concerns of a consumer slowdown in July were eased when sales for that month were revised up to a respectable 0.3% gain from an initial flat reading.