US retail sales fell in March after two months of rises, tempering hopes that consumers are becoming more confident about the economy.
US President Barack Obama and Federal Reserve head Ben Bernanke have said there are signs the slowdown is easing but underline that times remain tough.
Sales fell by 1.1% from February, and by 9.4% compared with a year earlier. Many analysts had expected sales to increase after two months of rises.
Mr Obama referred to "signs of economic progress" and Mr Bernanke talked of "tentative signs" that the rate of contraction was calming.
Sales at electronics stores were hit hardest, falling by 5.9%. Car and auto parts dealers saw sales drop by 2.5%.
But both men, speaking independently, said a recovery would take time.
Producer prices also fell in March, by 1.2%, after two months of rises.
Their statements came after earlier data showed disappointing retail sales for March after two months of rises.
'Huge decline'
Analysts had expected a rise in retail sales, so the figures indicated that consumers were still cautious about spending.
Driven by heavy discounting, retail sales had risen by 1% in January and by 0.3% in February.
Mr Obama pointed to the US government's housing plan, the strengthening of the non-bank credit market and progress at the G20 as factors in helping to generate the economic progress.
The fact that Easter fell in March last year but in April this year also affected the figures, as the traditional boost in Easter spending was not reflected in the figures.
But he warned that 2009 would be a hard year for the US economy, when there would be more job losses, more repossessions and "more pain before it ends".
"We were expecting improvement and we got a huge decline. The report was weak across the board," said Jacob Oubina at Forex.com.
"This throws some cold water on the idea that we're carving out a bottom," he added.
Last week, figures released by the International Council of Shopping Centers showed sales for March fell by 2.1% from a year earlier, while a number of top US retailers reported smaller-than-expected falls in sales.
Falling energy and food prices were the main reason for the fall in producer prices. In fact, excluding these two sectors, prices remained unchanged.
Energy prices fell by 5.5% in the month, while food prices dropped by 0.7%.
The official sales estimates were released by the US Commerce Department. The producer price figures were released by the The Labor Department.
