The Commerce Department released disappointing retail sales figures today showing that sales dropped 1.1% in March after a 0.3% gain in February.  According to Bloomberg, auto sales led the way (down), but almost every sector saw decreased sales:

Autos sold at an average 9.5 million annual rate in the first quarter, the weakest performance since 1982. General Motors Corp., the largest U.S. carmaker, may be forced to file for bankruptcy in the event it can’t reach accords with labor and bondholders for $13.4 billion in federal aid.

In addition to electronics stores and restaurants, sellers of furniture, building materials, clothing, and sporting goods all posted declines. The 1.4 percent decrease in receipts at restaurants and bars was the biggest since March 2005.

Only grocery and health-care stores saw an increase in sales last month.

Read the full article here.

Prices declined last month as well.  The Labor Department reports this morning that U.S. producer prices dropped 1.2% in March.  The year-to-year drop from March 2008 was 3.5%--the biggest decline since 1950.  The primary reason appears to be a drop in energy prices.  From Reuters:

Core producer prices, which exclude food and energy costs, were unchanged in March compared with a forecast for a 0.1 percent rise. The core producer price index stood 3.8 percent higher measured against the same month last year.

The Labor Department noted that among finished goods, energy prices turned down by 5.5 percent last month after rising 1.3 percent in February. They were 25.4 percent lower on a year-over-year basis. Gasoline prices fell 13.1 percent in March and were 50.7 percent lower compared with a year ago.

Full article here.