So retail sales last year broke a new record decline

[TwixVoy]

2008 was the worst year on record for retail sales. News just came out today that retail sales in 2009 closed out the year DOWN 6.2% versus 2008.

We just set a new record by beating the previous worst year on record - 2008.

Yet US stock prices continue to go up. That's right - everything is green shoots on wall street! Keep putting your money in the market......

Also today the CBO comes out and admits unemployment will continue to be high until at least 2012.

Isn't it painfully obvious the rich are playing us for suckers while they continue to extract the last life blood they can from this country before leaving it to crash and burn?

[YOY]

1. Stop it! The economy is just like Peter Pan told us! Clap your hands and believe!!!

n.t.

[lapfog_1]

2. Well, I contributed to that decline...

I can't think of a single "durable good" that I bought last year. And I mean even a screwdriver or something. Wait... oh, yeah, I did buy a drain plug for the horse water tank... I think it was $3.95. That's it. For the year.

[Hello_Kitty]

10. Same here. Bought some underwear. That's it.

What few articles of other clothing I've bought are second hand.

[sofa king]

3. I've been spending more on duct tape.

To repair the shit I can't afford to replace.

[obliviously]

4. Dude! Try the gorrilla glue and tape its fantastic

You can even use it to tape on splints for those annoying broke bones and stuff!

[Arugula Latte]

5. I wonder if many people are making a long-term lifestyle change...

...getting in the habit of buying less, whether from choice or necessity or both, because they realize we don't need a fraction of the crap we're supposed to buy.

[HillbillyBob]

11. I guess we are ahead of the curve we cut back starting

about 1998 when we saw that (*) was going to run, then of course we lost our jobs just after that and had no choice, but to tighten up. While we are a bit more stabilised since then we only buy what we HAVE to have.
When we do have to replace something we shop the hell out of it, find it as inexpensively as possible and check reviews to make sure it is of good quality that we won't have to replace anytime soon, hopefully the last of that item we will ever have to buy, but then again we were never ones to try keeping up with the Joneses. We also do not apply for credit cards we have 2 and keep a tight rein on their use. Perhaps this needs to be the new model and to hell with the banksters.

[Arugula Latte]

13. That's smart.

Sites like Craigslist make this type of shopping so much easier, too. We just bought an excellent used car off Craigslist for a great price; I shudder to think what the price would have been had we gone to a dealer.

[Nikki Stone1]

6. Allentown Jake told you guys this was the case.

And so many didn't believe him.

[KG]

7. gloom and doomers, chill! obama's got this!

:eyes:

[slipslidingaway]

8. The generation coming up behind the baby boom generation cannot

consume at the same rate and many boomers are scaling back.

[OhioChick]

9. Interesting how these threads sink. K&R n/t

[bemildred]

12. Retail sales fall in December, Commerce Department says

The Commerce Department said retail sales fell last month, a surprising development given that many major retailers have been reporting relatively healthy holiday results.

Retail sales in December totaled $353 billion, a 0.3% decline from November, the government said Thursday. For the full year, total sales fell 6.2% from 2008.

"While the overall trend is in the right direction, today's retail sales data show that we have more work to do," U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said in a statement.

The mixed messages coming out of the industry underscore the tentative nature of the retail recovery and indicate that the process could be a long one.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-retail15-2010jan15,0,6752382.story