American retail sales were surprisingly dreadful in December
CNN
Americans shopped less in December, causing the first drop in retail sales since the summer.
Sales dropped 1.9% compared with November, adjusted for seasonal swings, the Census Bureau reported Friday.
The decline in sales coincided with the surge in Covid cases due to the highly infectious Omicron variant. In July, the last time sales dropped, it was on the back of cases rising due to the Delta variant.
Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal and Elon Musk are engaged in a debate over an issue Musk has made central to his proposed purchase of the platform — spam.
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We live in a world shaped by shopping carts. The ubiquitous, unloved contraptions are a key feature of US economy. (Yes, really.)
Worries about an economic slowdown are running wild on Wall Street. Despite concerns about inflation, higher interest rates from the Federal Reserve, supply chain issues and geopolitical turmoil due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine and Covid outbreaks in China, American consumers continue to do what they do best: shop until they drop.
The American economy is super weird right now.
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Europe was hit this week by yet another abrupt interruption to its supply of natural gas from Russia — the latest incident underscoring the vulnerability of the continent's energy supply.