(MENAFN) U.S. trade sales decreased in Dec as unseasonably soft weather undercut purchases of winter apparel and cheaper gasoline.
The drop was in industrial production fell in Dec, followed by cutbacks in utilities and mining output, and business investors were also weak.
Accordingly, retail sales fell 0.1 percent after increasing 0.4 percent in Nov, while for whole of 2015, retail sales grew 2.1 percent.
Despite a strong labor market, prospects for consumer spending are not positive against the backdrop of the stock market sell-off.
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