Falling gasoline prices also contributed to a decline in retail sales, as purchases at service stations were off 0.8 percent in September. Drivers are spending much less at the pump, as average U.S. prices have dropped to $3.19 a gallon, from $3.40 a month ago, according to the AAA.

Purchases of clothing dropped 1.2 percent last month.

On the other side of the ledger, spending at electronics stores rose 3.4 percent last month. Bank of America analysts believe that electronics sales probably improved in September thanks in part to the release of new iPhones by Apple. Apple says it sold more than 10 million iPhone 6 and 6 Plus models, a record for a new model, in the three days after the phones went on sale.

Excluding autos, sales still dipped 0.2 percent last month.

Increased consumer spending could help buffer the U.S. economy from the consequences of a broader global slowdown. Roughly 70 percent of all U.S. economic activity is driven by consumer spending.

Economic Woes Deepen

The German government on Tuesday downgraded its economic growth projections, while much of Europe copes with high unemployment and diminished prospects. China's propulsive growth has started to fade, and consumers in Japan are still spending cautiously after a big sales tax increase. Last week, the International Monetary Fund trimmed its global growth forecasts for this year and next, citing weakness in Japan, Latin America and Europe.

In the U.S., future gains in retail spending will likely hinge on job growth.

Employers added 248,000 jobs last month, according to the Labor Department. Job growth has averaged 227,000 a month through the first nine months of 2014.

Each new job increases the number of paychecks in the economy. Still, wage gains have been sluggish since the recession ended in 2009, and that's led many people to be more cautious about spending money. Average hourly pay fell a penny to US$24.53 in September. That's an increase of less than 2 percent over the past year, meaning pay is barely matching inflation.

美國零售銷售下降，九月汽車和汽油

由Josh Boak，美聯社
二○一四年十月十六日，上午12:01 TWN

華盛頓 - 美國零售銷售回落在九月購買汽車，汽油，家具和衣物放緩，預示著近期的就業增長還沒有顯著刺激消費。

美國商務部週三公佈，經季節性因素調整後的零售銷售較前月下降0.3％。銷售額在過去12個月上漲了4.3％，稍低於他們的歷史的步伐。

汽車銷量同比下降0.8％，九月份，轉速高達10.4％8月以後。

經銷商從八月1750萬的速度售出轎車和卡車的16.43萬輛，每年的步伐上個月下降，根據汽車製造商。雖然汽車銷售已幫助推動經濟增長許多年，最近滑足以削弱九月份整體零售銷售。

汽油價格下跌也導致了零售額的下降，因為購買的服務站都關閉了0.8％的月。司機花費在泵要少得多，因為美國的平均價格已經在一個月前下跌至3.19加侖，$ 3.40，根據AAA級。

服裝採購下降了1.2％，比上月。

在總賬的另一側，在消費電子產品商店比上月上漲3.4％。美國分析家銀行認為，電子產品的銷售在九月的感謝可能改善部分是新的iPhone由蘋果公司發布。蘋果公司表示，它售出了1000多萬部iPhone 6,6加模型，新模型的紀錄，在三天的手機開賣之後。

不包括汽車銷售仍跌0.2％，比上月。

增加消費支出可能有助於從更廣泛的全球經濟放緩所帶來的後果緩衝美國經濟。大約70％的美國經濟活動是由消費驅動。

經濟困境加深

上週二，德國政府下調經濟增長預測，高失業率和減少的前景，而歐洲大部分地區對付。中國的推進增長已經開始褪色，而消費者在日本之後，一個大的銷售稅增加仍然謹慎消費。上週，國際貨幣基金組織（IMF）下調了全球經濟增長的預測，今年和明年，理由是無力在日本，拉丁美洲和歐洲。

在美國，在零售消費的未來收益將有可能取決於就業增長。

就業人數增加248,000就業崗位上個月，根據美國勞工部。就業增長平均為227,000一個月至今年首九個月的2014年。

每個新的工作增加了經濟的薪水的數目。儘管如此，工資漲幅已經從低迷的經濟衰退在2009年結束，而這導致許多人即將花錢更加謹慎。平均時薪在9月下降一分錢美國24.53美元。這是一個增長不到2％在過去的一年，這意味著工資幾乎沒有匹配的通貨膨脹。