Retail Sales Take Dip In January

Not since last August have retail sales dipped so much. The 0.3 percent decrease in January came from many different factors. Slipping auto sales, electronics, and home appliances all contributed to the dip. On the positive side of things retail clothing and clothing accesory stores experienced a 0.6 percent increase for the month. That was almost twice what analysts were predicting. So what does all of this mean to you and me. Well we are consumers. We pay for these things, we demand these things. But what do the numbers mean. I believe they are some arbitrary means to compare progress. So how does a dip in retail sales really affect me? I think the whole idea here is to measure where we stand as an economy. If we know that retail sales fell last month then we can take the appropriate measures to not let it happen next month. My point that I'm trying to get at here is we need to study economics by participating in economics. So go out to eat tonight. You'll be glad you did because then you'll know that at least you helped to contribute to restaurant sales in the month of Febuary. Please help me out here. Why are these insignificantly small numbers so important? [0.3%, 0.6%] Does it really make any difference how much retail sales fell. It seems so immaterial to me.