Consumer spending drop raises new fears

By MARTIN CRUTSINGER, AP Economics Writer
1 hour, 15 minutes ago

Consumer spending, the critical bulwark that has kept the country out of a recession, is showing signs of cracking. Retail sales plunged by 0.4 percent last month as consumers battered by a sinking housing market, rising unemployment and the credit crunch, handed retailers their worst Christmas in five years.

The Commerce Department's sales report Tuesday was just the latest in a string of weaker-than-expected numbers that have economists worried that the current economic expansion, now in its seventh year, could be in danger of faltering.