The latest statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau show a further deterioration in total retail sales in March 2008. Three-month smoothed sales increased only 0.1% from February 2008 and 2.9% from March of last year. The actual sales increase versus last year was only 2.0%. The year-over-year figures are the lowest in five years. The causes for the weakness include: (1) deteriorating employment prospects; (2) chaos in housing markets; and (3) such external factors as record-high oil prices and the low-valued dollar.