2021.01.1512:36:00UTC+00U.S. Retail Sales Drop 0.7% In December

Retail sales in the U.S. continued to decline in the month of December, according to a report released by the Commerce Department on Friday.

The Commerce Department said retail sales fell by 0.7 percent in December after tumbling by a revised 1.4 percent in November.

Economists had expected retail sales to come in unchanged compared to the 1.1 percent slump originally reported for the previous month.

Excluding sales by motor vehicle and parts dealers, retail sales plunged by 1.4 percent in December after sliding by 1.3 percent in November.

Ex-auto sales were expected to edge down by 0.1 percent compared to the 0.9 percent decrease originally reported for the previous month.