The thing about economists is - they know numbers, but they never buy anything. So they never see these things coming. When all you had to do was go to a mall like I did this Christmas and look in the effing windows. Where you would be greeted with markdown signs. I wasn't sure how bad it was going to be, but to say this was sudden or "unexpected" or "out of left field" is just stupid. Just pay attention and look around!
Read : This is our life now. Or: I guess it's not trendy to talk about the mallpocolypse right now.
"The sudden and unexpected plunge in December's retail sales data raised new concerns about a recession, but economists also say the biggest drop in nine years clashes with other data and may be suspect.
But nonetheless, Wall Street still took the data seriously and economists slashed fourth quarter GDP forecasts. JP Morgan cut its growth estimate to 2 percent from 2.6 percent.
"This literally came from out of left field… I thought January would have been bad," said Chris Rupkey, chief financial economist at MUFG Union Bank. "All our reports earlier were that holiday sales were sparkling." Source.
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