December retail’s slap is showing

Weak retail figures gave Wall Street a reason to panic early Thursday.

December retail figures fell 1.2 percent from November, the Commerce Department revealed, marking the steepest drop since 2009. Economists had been expecting a rise of 0.1 percent for the last month of the year.

Thepoorer-than-expected data sent US markets down sharply in morning trades, stoking worries about slowing growth.

Separately, the National Retail Federation reported Thursday that holiday sales grew only 2.9 percent, versus a forecast range of 4.3 percent and 4.8 percent for the period between Nov. 1 and Dec. 31.

NRF blamed a “trifecta of anxiety and uncertainty” spurred by the government shutdown, trade tensions and market volatility at the end of 2018.

The Dow Jones industrial average was down 235.2 points at its lowest point Thursday, before paring losses to end the day down 103.88 points, or 0.4 percent, at 25,439.39. Meanwhile, the broader S&P500 was off 0.3 percent as the tech-weighted Nasdaq gained 0.1 percent.

While Wall Street eventually shrugged off most of its retail fears, it’s still closely watching economic data.

“Clearly, there are macroeconomic concerns that the US is losing momentum,” Quincy Krosby, a chief market strategist at Prudential Financial, told The Post.

But she also noted bright spots for US consumers, such as low unemployment and falling mortgage rates, which could offset weak retail figures.

However, “if these numbers, — retail, consumer confidence and autos — continue to weaken, it will suggest a USeconomy that is losing steam,” Krosby added.