Well, the numbers are finally in and the US retail sector had its worst holiday season in 5 years. Economists had been predicting this even before the 2007 holiday shopping season kicked into gear. Actually, anyone paying any attention at all to the dire economic news — sub-prime mortgage mess, turmoil in the credit markets, and ever rising food and energy prices, could have seen this coming from way off
It was only a matter of time before the US consumer started putting a clamp on spending.