Why December’s Retail Sales Decline Was the Worst in Nine Years

December's retail sales report shows that non-store retailers, such as online retailers, were down 3.9 percent.

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Retail sales for December weren’t quite what the industry expected. The government’s retail sales report released Thursday showed the largest decline in nine years, with sales sliding 1.2 percent. While worrisome, the news may not yet be an indicator of a larger trend even despite a holiday shopping season that was worse than expected. The…

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