Posted on 10/29/2013 8:13:24 AM PDT by SatinDoll
This is flat-out awful:
The U.S. Census Bureau announced today that advance estimates of U.S. retail and food services sales for September, adjusted for seasonal variation and holiday and trading-day differences, but not for price changes, were $425.9 billion, a decrease of 0.1 percent (±0.5%)* from the previous month, but 3.2 percent (±0.7%) above September 2012. Total sales for the July through September 2013 period were up 4.5 percent (±0.5%) from the same period a year ago. The July to August 2013 percent change was unrevised from +0.2 percent (±0.2%)*.
It's much worse than the headline folks.
When I started down the unadjusted table I was in a literal state of shock. September is usually weaker than August on an unadjusted basis but in this case it's 9.08% weaker.
To put this in perspective last year it was 7.6% down, the year before that 4.95%, 2010 was -4.56%, 2009 (the "depths" of the recession as we allegedly "turned") was -8.12% and 2008 (as the crash was initiating) was -8.14%.
In other words on an unadjusted basis this drop was worse than that experienced in the depths of the crash.
Can you find worse? Sure can -- look at 2001 (-11.14%) or 2002 (-11.09%) -- both during the Tech Wreck.
The bottom line is that this number is very soft -- indeed, right on the edge of recession territory.
The first thing that comes to mind is loss of individual's disposable cash flow. How do you feed your children and yourself under those conditions?
I know that EBT or SNAP are not popular with conservatives in general. So where do conservatives go when sales drop nearly to ZERO?
Obamanomics at work
census bureau?
Don’t they count people?
Yet Walmart is predicting their Bestest Black Friday EVER!!
hmmmm....sounds like the regime has they by the green/union organizing shorthairs.
You don’t feed your children with pre-packaged and prepared foods for one. Neither do you cart-up on snacks, soda drinks and all the other things you can’t afford, but can now with SNAP.
I have NEVER seen ONCE an EBT customer buy uncooked rice, flour, sugar, raw eggs, etc. when I’ve actually seen them pull out the EBT card. Never. I don’t see hardly any canned vegetables, or the like, either. It is all boxes with pretty pre-pared food pictures.
When I see them, I get the distinct feeling none of them would have or know how to turn on an oven or a cooktop. I’m thinking their ‘kitchen’ is a refrigerator and a microwave myself.
Deals to be had!
Correct me if I’m wrong, but these figures are NOT adjusted for price changes. Isn’t inflation significantly higher than officially reported?
Therefore these numbers are even worse than is pointed out in this article, aren’t they?
From comments at that site, here is a link to an ominous chart:
King Barry and his Globalist/UN/NWO puppet masters are shocked as heck America hasn’t collapsed yet. Hard as they try, the sumbich just won’t die! Cloward-Piven.
I try and make money on ebay and amazon, and it has been really slow!
I hear ya.... you can’t even see them in the store before 11AM....it upsets their psyches to get up so early.
I think there can be small good-economy islands. Economy is related to work. The more work the better the economy. Work is often limited more by willingness or doom-and-gloom thinking (aw, I lost my job, I am going to hang it up and live on the dole) than by real factors.
God hasn’t gone on vacation. He isn’t even on coffee break. If there is a problem it’s us. Work is part of being blessed and God will guide the willing person as to what work to do.
I don’t buy anything anymore unless it is to replace something that broke or for the kids for birthdays. That’s it. Decided years ago that I was not gonna help out the communists in any way. They are not gonna get anymore of my tax money than is taken from me by force.
What's really killing local economies is near 0% interest on savings. Most seniors spend just about all of that interest they'd be earning, and they spend it locally. It would have a great multiplyer effect on the economy.
Same with me. I’ve gone from $450 or so a month, down to $70.
I think it's more that the extra money is spent on junk. And keep in mind that there's a lot of extra money, since kids in school are getting free breakfast, lunch, and healthy snack. That's a lot of meals they're getting food stamps for, but not paying for.
I can appreciate your defense of what appears to you in your locale.
However, in my area, there are about 6000 leeches (18% of us) who are SNAP recipients. I don’t see a damned one of them buy lettuce, raw vegetables or anything they’d have to put in a pot to cook...not a damned one. [96% white, 1% black, 3 % other per US Census]
It really isn’t a racial thing. It is sloth, gluttony and a highly developed sense of entitlement.
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