(Washington, USA) - US retail sales rose only 0.1 percent in December from a month earlier, the Commerce Department said Thursday, confirming that the holiday shopping season was a disappointment to retailers.
Sales for the entire year rose 7.7 percent from 2010, but the December figures underlined a slowdown of spending by Americans in the final quarter, despite an apparent pickup in economic growth overall.
The data though suggested that shoppers buying gifts ahead of the December holidays may have moved early, so that the normal surge in the final month was muted.
The fourth quarter of 2011 was up 7.0 percent overall from the year earlier.
Also likely holding back growth were falling prices, as discounting appeared particularly heavy in November and December.
"Quite disturbing," Jennifer Lee of BMO Capital Markets said of the data.
"Auto sales accounted for... all of the gains, as sales excluding autos fell 0.2 percent," she noted.
"Although much of these data likely reflect the aggressive discounting that retailers undertook, and possibly some weather impact... the results are very disappointing."
But online sales were strong in the year's final month, with non-store retailing jumping 10.6 percent over December 2010, according to the data.
