33 Months of Falling Retail Sales in Spain; Austerity the Wrong Way

Guru's blog in Spanish highlights the dramatic retail spending situation in Spain.

Here is a Mish-modified translation.

Last month I discussed the retail drama in Spain.

March data is more of the same. Sales have fallen 33 consecutive months coupled with 56 months of job destruction.

This month overall sales fell by 10.9%. Accounting for seasonal effects, sales are down 8.9%. Single location business sales fell 14.1% (10.9% accounting for seasonal effects). Small business sales are down 12.7% (9.2% seasonally adjusted).

Spain is in a national emergency with no consumer spending, no credit, and no job creation, coupled with strongly rising unemployment.

Austerity the Wrong Way

This is what happens when you implement austerity the wrong way, by raising taxes instead of cutting needless bureaucrats.

Addendum: Couple of typos were corrected by reader Bran.

Here are the revised sentences: "Single location business sales fell 14.1% (10.9% accounting for seasonal effects). Small business sales are down 12.7% (9.2% seasonally adjusted)."

The percentages did not change but I had the word "spending" instead of "sales".

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com