Retail Sales Beat Expectations?

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Yes, that is what the NYT headline said about the 0.2 percent decline in sales reported for October. The consensus forecast was a 0.4 percent decline. Of course, September sales were revised down from a drop of 0.4 perrcent to a drop of 0.8 percent. This means that October sales were 0.2 percent below the consensus forecast. This is beating expectations?

--Dean Baker

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