Shopless America

As bad as that 2.7 percent drop in December retail sales may look, the more detailed numbers are really discouraging. The LAT's Tom Petruno notes that of 19 retail subsectors tracked by the Commerce Department, 17 showed a drop in sales last month. Some examples:

-- Building materials/garden supplies: -2.9%
-- Department stores: -2.3%
-- Restaurants and bars: -2.2%
-- Online retailers: -1.9%
-- Furniture and home furnishings: -1.8%
-- Electronics and appliances: -1.0%
-- Sporting goods/hobby/book/music stores: -0.4%

Consumers have simply stopped spending – well, just about stopped. Only the "miscellaneous" sector and drug stores and other health and personal care stores were up (lots of aspirin sales, I imagine).