By Lucia Mutikani
WASHINGTON, Apr 15 (Reuters) – US retail sales suffered a historic slump in March as mandatory company closings to control the spread of the coronavirus COVID-19 depressed demand for many items, with consumer spending on its way to its worst decline in decades.
The Commerce Department said Wednesday that retail sales fell 8.7% last month, the biggest drop in the data since 1992, when the government began releasing segment statistics. Analysts had expected a 8.0% drop.
February’s figure, down 0.5%, was revised down to 0.4%.
<p class = "canvas-atom canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "(Report by Lucia Mutikani. Edited in Spanish by Janisse Huambachano)“data-reactid =” 33 “>(Report by Lucia Mutikani. Edited in Spanish by Janisse Huambachano)
–
