News brief

Decline in U.S. retail spending. U.S. retail sales dropped sharply last month, in part because cold weather kept more Americans indoors and dented sales at car dealers and most other stores. Retail sales dropped 0.9% in January from the previous month, the Commerce Department said, after two months of healthy gains. January’s average temperature was the lowest since 1988, according to Pantheon Macroeconomics, and was particularly disruptive in the South. Sales dropped sharply last month at auto dealers, falling 2.8%, as well as at furniture stores, home and garden centers, and even in the usually strong online retail sector, where sales dropped 1.9%.