Consumers were leery about opening up their wallets last month as retail sales fell 0.3%, following two consecutive monthly increases, the Commerce Department reported today.

December's figures were 5.4% higher than those of December 2008. Total sales for 2009 were 6.2% lower than for 2008. From October to December 2009, sales were 1.9% than for the same period in 2008.

Total retail and food sales in November were $352 billion, compared with 353 billion in November.

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