Sales at U.S. retailers probably fell in January for a seventh straight month as surging unemployment hobbled consumers, economists said a report this week will show.

Purchases fell 0.8 percent, capping the longest slide since comparable records began in 1992, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey. Other reports may show falling oil prices helped narrow the trade gap and prevented consumer confidence from sinking further.

Household spending is likely to keep shrinking as job losses mount, home prices skid and banks limit lending. President Barack Obama is seeking to push a $900 billion stimulus package through Congress this month to jump-start the economy over objections by some lawmakers that the plan is too focused on spending and will bloat the government deficit.

Retailers are bracing for the first annual drop in sales this year in at least 14 years, according to the National Retail Federation. January same-store sales dropped 1.6 percent from a year ago, the International Council of Shopping Centers reported last week.

The unemployment rate jumped to 7.6 percent in January, the highest level since 1992, the Labor Department said last week. Payrolls plunged by 598,000, bringing the total number of jobs lost over the last 13 months to 3.6 million, the biggest slump in the postwar period.

(Bloomberg.com)