WASHINGTON - US RETAIL sales tumbled a record 2.8 per cent in October as consumers hunkered down in the face of a sharply slowing economy and a global financial crisis, government data showed on Friday.

The decline reported by the Commerce Department was far steeper than analysts' consensus forecast of a drop of 2.1 per cent.

It was the steepest decline since the department began reporting the indicator in 1992.

Excluding motor vehicle sales, which have dragged down the indicator in recent months, retail sales fell 2.2 per cent in October, another record decline and widely exceeding analysts' forecasts of a 1.2 per cent fall.

On a 12-month basis, sales decreased 4.1 per cent from October 2007.

The market had braced for a dismal October report, but the data painted an even grimmer picture of Americans sharply reining in spending amid the accelerating financial crisis that has battered the world's biggest economy and is forecast to drag the major advanced economies into recession.

The report also showed conditions had been worse than initially estimated for prior months. The Commerce Department revised the September drop to 1.3 per cent from 1.2 per cent, and the August decline to 0.7 per cent from 0.4 per cent. -- AFP

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