The US Census Bureau will release the December Retail Sales report on Wednesday, January 17 at 13:30 GMT and as we get closer to the release time, here are the forecasts of economists and researchers of nine major banks regarding the upcoming data. Retail Sales are expected to have grown at a higher pace of 0.4% against 0.3% increase in November. Consumer spending ex-automobiles is expected to remain steady at 0.2% MoM. The so-called control group used for GDP calculations is expected at 0.2% MoM vs. the prior release of 0.4% in November. Commerzbank: The fact that the US economy has not slipped into recession so far ... (full story)