(AP) Retail sales fell for a second straight month in April, a disappointing performance that raised doubts about whether consumers were regaining their desire to shop. A rebound in consumer demand is a necessary ingredient for ending the recession.
The Commerce Department said Wednesday that retail sales fell 0.4 percent last month, much worse than the flat reading economists expected. The April weakness followed a 1.3 percent drop in March that was worse than first estimated.
Retail sales had posted gains in January and February after falling for six straight months, raising hopes that the all-important consumer sector of the economy might be stabilizing. But the setbacks in March and April could darken some forecasts because consumer spending accounts for about 70 percent of economic activity.
The hope had been that consumers were starting to feel better about spending, helped by the start of tax breaks included in the $787 billion stimulus bill. Households had spent the fall hunkered down in the face of thousands of job layoffs and the worst financial crisis since the 1930s. - CBS News Story
Obama's spending and plan for shoring up the economy doesn't appear to be working to this point. They have come out with all of this, "we see signs of hope". Well out here on main street people are still losing their jobs and people are still hurting. Obama has spent Trillions of our dollars and has begun to slowly start raising taxes on us to help pay for his spending and planned spending.
Regardless of what Obama is telling us, there is years of pain ahead for all of us.
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