December 2011 Retail Sales increased 0.1%. Minus autos & parts retail sales dropped -0.2%. November retail sales were revised up to 0.4% from 0.2%. Retail sales are up 6.5% from the same time last year. Electronics and Appliance stores plunged -3.9% during December, the holiday season. Gas sales dropped -1.6%. Retail sales are reported by dollars, not by volume, so dropping prices often reports as a decline in sales.
The November Consumer Price Index, which measures inflation, had no change, or zero from last month. The flat line was caused by a -1.6% energy decrease for the month. Food increased 0.1%. Gas alone decreased -2.4% in a month and food at home, or groceries, decreased -0.1%. Eating out increased 0.3%. Core CPI, or price increases minus food and energy costs, rose 0.2%.
The July Consumer Price Index increased 0.5% from last month and half of it is gas, which increased 4.7% in a month. Core CPI, or price increases minus food and energy costs, rose 0.2%. Core CPI is a Federal Reserve inflation watch number. For the year, not seasonally adjusted, the Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers (CPI-U) has risen 3.6%. In May CPI dropped by -0.2%.
The Consumer Price Index for June 2011 decreased -0.2% from last month and it's all gas, which plunged -6.8% in a month. Core CPI rose 0.3%, the same increase as last month, which was the largest jump since July 2008. Core CPI removes food and energy cost increases and is the number the Federal Reserve watches for inflation.
The Commerce Department said Friday retail and food sales fell 2.8% from September, and 4.1% from the October 2007. The month-over-month decline is the largest in 16 years, and surpasses the previous record set in November 2001.
I believe the management we were under was showing favoritism to the oil industry
From CNN, the Minerals Management Service, part of the Department of the Interior, is a cult of corruption. This agency manages oil, gas, minerals on federal lands.
A report, conducted by the Interior Department's inspector general and released earlier this month, found that employees at the agency received improper gifts from energy industry officials and engaged with them in illegal drug use and inappropriate sexual relations. It looked at activities at the agency from 2003 through 2006
A whistle blower lost his job and was told to not investigate why Shell Oil had raised its oil transportation costs in their contract with the Government.
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