The U.S. may not be immune from the global slowdown after all. Figures on retail sales and manufacturing Friday showed the world’s largest economy ended the year on a weak note, and the start of 2016 wasn’t any better. The one saving grace was a pickup in consumer confidence, but that was mainly because households believed inflation will be low, making subdued wage gains look good by comparison. “The data this morning has been pretty much one way,” said Gennadiy Goldberg, a U.S. strategist at TD Securities USA LLC in New York. “It’s fanning some of these fears that the economy is being dragged down into the mud by ... (full story)