Declining US Retail Sales <br />Stoke Fears About Economy.<br />Retail spending weakened <br />by 0.3 percent in September. <br />It is the first fall in retail sales <br />in seven months.<br />Economists had predicted that <br />September's retail numbers would rise.<br />Weaker retail numbers provide further evidence that weakness <br />in the manufacturing sector is <br />spilling over into other areas of <br />the economy, Jim Baird, CIO Plante Moran Financial Advisors, via Reuters.<br />Spending decreased online <br />for motor vehicles, hobbies <br />and building materials.<br />A 15-month trade war between <br />the U.S. and China — and cooling <br />job growth — are also thought to have <br />contributed to the September decline.<br />The numbers could lead the <br />Federal Reserve to implement more <br />interest rate cuts when it convenes its <br />policy meeting at the end of the month.<br />More than two-thirds of the <br />U.S. economy is comprised <br />of consumer spending
