Retail sales short for the month

WASHINGTON (AP) - The health of the nation's struggling retailers continues to take the spotlight today. First up, the Commerce Department releases its report on U.S. retail sales for October. Don't expect big numbers. Thomson Reuters estimates retail sales to fall 2 percent.

But economists at IHS Global Insight predict retail sales, including autos, fell 3 percent in October, due to a plunge in auto sales and a 16 percent drop in gasoline prices. It would be the fourth-straight monthly decline. But excluding autos and gas, the picture could improve. IHS economists predict such sales fell 0.6 percent, less than the 0.7 percent decline in September.