Retail Sales Take Expected Dip In April

Latest Report Shows .2 Percent Decline; Second Drop In Three Months

(AP)  Consumers, battling soaring gasoline prices and a slumping economy, cut back further on their spending in April.

The Commerce Department reported Tuesday that retail sales dipped 0.2 percent last month, right in line with economists' expectations.

It was the second drop in the past three months and was led by a 2.8 percent decline in auto sales, the biggest setback in this category in 10 months. It reflected the problems that automakers are having as a weak economy and soaring gasoline prices cut into demand for new cars.

Excluding autos, retail sales rose by 0.5 percent, a better performance than had been expected as sales at general merchandise stores, a category that includes big chains such as Wal-Mart, posted a 0.5 percent increase, much better than the tiny 0.1 percent rise in March.

However, sales at department stores were down 0.1 percent, indicating that tough economic times may be pushing people to seek out bargains at giant discount stores.

In other economic news, the Commerce Department said that business inventories edged up a tiny 0.1 percent in March, the smallest advance in a year and another sign of the weakening economy.

The small inventory rise was below the 0.4 percent increase that many economists were expecting and was an indication that businesses are holding back on adding to their stockpiles in the face of slowing demand.

Many analysts believe the economy has slipped into a recession. However, overall economic growth, as measured by the gross domestic product, has not yet turned negative.

The Bush administration is hoping that a $168 billion economic stimulus package, which includes about $100 billion in direct payments to households, will give the economy a jump-start. The government started making those payments at the end of April.

The Federal Reserve launched an aggressive campaign last September to cut interest rates in an effort to deal with the weakening economy and a severe credit crisis. The central bank cut the federal funds rate for the seventh time last month but indicated it might now pause, with some Fed officials expressing worries that higher inflation could be triggered if interest rates were driven even lower.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said in a speech Tuesday that the turbulent financial market had eased somewhat but that the situation remained "far from normal." He said the Fed's actions, which included an unprecedented move to allow investment banks to borrow directly from the Fed, "seems to have bolstered confidence."

The 0.2 percent drop in retail sales in April followed a 0.2 percent rise in March and a 0.5 percent decline in February.

Sales at clothing and specialty stores posted a 0.7 percent increase in April while sales at electronics and appliance stores were up 1.4 percent.

Sales at furniture stores edged up a slight 0.1 percent. This sector has been under pressure, reflecting the prolonged two-year slump in home sales.

[stn_sage]

Bernanke STILL hasn''t figured out we''re in a recession?! This IS sad! He reminds me a lot of
''you''re doin a heckuva job, Brownie''!

[forthepeopl1]

banks,wallstreet, tell mortgage holders to get lost, we will not help.

thanks congress,bush

[forthepeopl1]

common sense is all that is needed.here it is.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Paulson possibility of bailout for individual mortgage holders, singling out the growing number
going "under water" as their loans exceed the diminishing value of their properties.

please this is a simple thing to fix, why are you bending over for all of the wallstreet scum.
you have the right to do what this paulson/ben did for wallstreet,saying they had to to save america. so you can say the same thing, but this time you would be saveing america, and not wallstreet.
you must come out and stop the forcloseing of all these millions of homes, now,
ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS MANDATE THAT ALL MORTGAGES THAT HAVE BEEN TAKEN OUT FROM 2000 TO 2007 BY ALL AMERICANS TO BE RE-FI A.S.A.P. NO EXCEPTIONS,


NO MATTER WHAT THE CREDIT IS, THEY WILL RE-FI EVERYONE AT JUST OVER PRIME, AND AT A RATE OF 40% OF WHAT IS OWED ON THE PROPERTY( PERSONAL HOMES ONLY)!!
WHY, BECAUSE MOST HOST ARE SELLING AT FORCLOSER FOR 20 TO 30 CENTS ON THE DOLLAR, SO AS TO WHAT PAULSON SAID TO BEARSTEARN 2 DOLLARS IS BETTER THAN NO DOLLARS SO TAKE THE DEAL..NOW REMEMBER ALL OF YOU, IF THIS COMPANY IN 6 MONTHS LOST 98% OF THEIR VALUE FROM 700 BILLION TO WHAT IS IT NOW. AND FOR SOMEONE TO COME IN AND BUY IT FOR NOTHING, WHAT IS THE REAL VALUE OF ALL THESE HOMES???NOBODY KNOWS, SO WHY NOT JUST START OVER??? AND STOP THE BLEEDING FOR ALL AMERICANS.

[e-mail]
DAVID A BELANGER

[forthepeopl1]

DISGUSTING ISN%u2019T IT ??????????

ARABIC/ISLAMIC STATES VOTING RECORDS IN THE U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT AND UNITED NATIONS RECORDS, AGAINST THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

PERHAPS IT IS TIME TO GET OUT OF THE UNITED NATIONS, AND GIVE THE TAX SAVINGS BACK TO THE AMERICAN WORKERS WHO ARE HAVING TO SKIMP AND SACRIFICE TO PAY TAXES AND BUY GASOLINE AND THE HIGHEST PRICES OF FOOD THIS COUNTRY HAS SEEN IN CENTERY.

KUWAIT %u2013 VOTES AGAINST 67 % OF THE TIME
QATAR - VOTES AGAINST 67 % OF THE TIME
MOROCCO %u2013 VOTES AGAINST 70 % OF THE TIME
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES %u2013 70 % OF THE TIME
JORDAN - VOTE AGAINST 71 % OF THE TIME
TUNISIA %u2013 VOTES AGAINST 71 % OF THE TIME
SAUDI ARABIA %u2013 VOTES AGAINST 73 % OF THE TIME
YEMEN %u2013 VOTES AGAINST 74 % OF THE TIME
ALGERIA - VOTES AGAINST 74 % OF THE TIME
OMAN %u2013 VOTES AGAINST 74 % OF THE TIME
SUDAN - VOTES AGAINST 75 % OF THE TIME
PAKISTAN %u2013 VOTES AGAINST 75 % OF THE TIME
LIBYA - VOTES AGAINST 76 % OF THE TIME
EGYPT - VOTES AGAINST 79 % OF THE TIME
LEBANON %u2013 VOTES AGAINST 80 % OF THE TIME
INDIA %u2013 VOTES AGAINST 81 % OF THE TIME
SYRIA - VOTES AGAINST 84 % OF THE TIME
MAURITANIA - VOTES AGAINST 87 % OF THE TIME

SO WHY DOES OUR CONGRESS GIVE THESE COUNTRYS OUR TAX DOLLARS IN THE AMOUNT OF
OVER 50 BILLION DOLLARS A YEAR, IN FOREIGN AID,

[e-mail]
David a belanger,veteran u.s. army