India, Feb. 14 -- Partly reflecting a slump by auto sales, the Commerce Department released a report on Friday showing retail sales in the U.S. fell by much more than expected in the month of January.
The report said retail sales slid by 0.9 percent in January after climbing by an upwardly revised 0.7 percent in December.
Economists had expected retail sales to edge down by 0.1 percent compared to the 0.4 percent increase originally reported for the previous month.
"The sharp decline in January retail sales was due in large part to the extreme wintery conditions and California wildfires last month," said Nationwide Chief Economist Kathy Bostjancic. "We anticipate a healthy rebound this month as weather conditions have normalized, and con...