Recession fears revived as store sales tumble

Retail sales were much worse than expected in February, a sign that consumers are cutting back.

Monthly retail sales suffered a surprising drop last month as American households continued to curtail their spending amid higher energy and food prices and a weakening jobs market.
The Commerce Department reported Thursday that total retail sales fell 0.6%, compared to a revised 0.4% increase in January. January sales were originally reported to have increased 0.3%.
Economists surveyed by Briefing.com expected a 0.2% gain in retail sales for the month.
"The basic story from these numbers is that consumer spending growth has slowed, which is consistent with our assessment that the economy is in a mild recession," said Scott Hoyt, director of consumer economics at Moody's Economy.com.

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