Weak Retail Sales Signal Slowdown

A merely modest rebound in retail sales last month following the sharpest drop in more than a year points to slower economic growth, analysts said.

The Commerce Department said Thursday that retail sales rose just 0.2 percent in March after declining a full 1 percent in February. The February figure previously had been reported as a 0.4 percent decrease.

“It’s further evidence the economy is slowing. It’s occurring even more rapidly than we previously thought,” said economist Kevin SigRist of Norwest Corp. in Minneapolis.

Analysts said they expect the trend toward reduced growth to continue. They are guessing that seven increases in interest rates engineered by the Federal Reserve since February 1994 have not yet had their full impact.

In another report, the Labor Department said the number of new claims for jobless benefits fell by 4,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 338,000, reflecting slower employment growth.