Slump in government reporter is the longest in at least four decades. Trade group says holiday sales down 2.8%, worse than forecast.
Retail sales fell for the sixth straight month in December, the longest consecutive stretch of monthly declines in the measure in at least four decades.
"Consumers aren't spending and that's not good for the economy," said Scott Hoyt, senior director of consumer economics with Moody's Economy.com.
In another sign of distress for the industry, the National Retail Federation reported Wednesday that 2008 holiday sales for the combined November-December months fell 2.8%.
This was the first-ever decline in the period since the trade group first started to track holiday sales in 1995.
