In December, retail sales experienced a 2.7 percent decrease from October, a steeper decline than the anticipated 1.9 percent, indicating a reduction in consumer spending leading up to the holiday season.
This trend suggests that consumers are increasingly shifting their end-of-year purchases to November to take advantage of Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals.
Over the course of the year, there was a modest increase in sales, with a 0.8 percent rise observed in the 12 months leading up to December.
