It increasingly looks likely that consumer spending at the start of the year was an aberration. People are concerned about their jobs, wondering what will happen with their houses and where the economy is going. None of this adds up to confidence for consumers. The days of easy spending thanks to easy credit are over for quite a while.
Retail sales fell for a second straight month in April, a disappointing performance that raised doubts about whether consumers were regaining their desire to shop. A rebound in consumer demand is a necessary ingredient for ending the recession.
The Commerce Department said Wednesday that retail sales fell 0.4 percent last month, much worse than the flat reading economists expected. The April weakness followed a 1.3 percent drop in March that was worse than first estimated.
