Retail sales in October dropped 2.8 percent in October, representing both the fourth straight month of decline and a record one-month drop. According to a Washington Post account citing figures from the U.S. Labor Department, sales also dropped 4.1 percent over the same period the year before.
The plunge was attributed to rising unemployment, the continuing credit crisis and other factors of economic uncertainty. The report also found that electronics and appliances stores dropped 2.3 percent month-to-month, a drop smaller than the national average, but a drop nonetheless.
The previous largest drop, of 2.65 percent, took place in November 2001, shortly after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
