Retail sales dive to record low

Retail sales fell 2.8% in October to a seasonally adjusted rate of $363.7 billion, marking the largest decline since the data were first tracked by the Department of Commerce in 1992. Retail sales were down 4.1% from October 2007. Retail sales excluding automobiles fell by a record 2.2% in October, compared with a 0.5% decline in September. Consumer spending makes up makes up 70% of the gross domestic product. The gross domestic product fell 0.3% in the third quarter. Import prices slid 4.7% in October, marking the largest monthly decline since 1988, according to the Department of Labor. Despite the decline, the index had increased 6.7% since October 2007. Petroleum import prices fell 16.7% in October but still remained 13.1% higher on the year. Excluding petroleum, import prices fell 0.9% and were up 5%, compared with the year-ago period. Export prices fell 1.9% in October and were down 4.2% since October 2007. The price of agricultural exports fell 8.7% on the month, while prices of non-agricultural exports fell 1.2%.