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Retail sales plunged more than twice as forecast in December, falling 2.7% from the previous month, the Commerce Department said Wednesday.

The sixth straight drop, which followed an originally reported 1.8% downturn in October, was more than twice the 1.2% decline predicted by economists, Bloomberg reported.

Sales excluding automobiles fell 3.1%, the most since records began being kept in 1992.

Almost all trucking operations depend on the health of retail sales because such sales involve nearly every type of cargo.