WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Here are some economist reactions after the Commerce Department on Wednesday reported a surprisingly weak 0.9% drop in retail sales in December.

Read more on December retail sales results.

“U.S. retail sales plunged by a worse than expected 0.9% in December — well below the 0.1% decline expected by the consensus and also our own more pessimistic forecast, with November’s previously strong gain also revised down. Lower gasoline prices contributed to a slide in the value of sales at the pumps and about two-thirds of the decline in headline retail sales during the month. However, it wasn’t just a gasoline story, as core retail sales (excluding autos, gasoline, building materials and restaurants) suffered a surprise 0.4% drop with declines pretty broad-based by sector. But while today’s figures are clearly disappointing it doesn’t change our positive outlook on the US consumer and GDP for 2015.” — Andrew Grantham, CIBC WM Economics

“The weaker December spending report is consistent with some slowing in growth momentum into Q4 as GDP growth begins to normalize following two immensely strong quarters. We will look to personal consumption and expenditure data for confirmation of the weakness in retail sales, but continue to expect falling energy prices to remain a net positive for the consumer.” — Gennadiy Goldberg, U.S. strategist at TD Securities.

“The new data indicate that the holiday season was an OK one, but not great: sales excluding autos and gasoline for November and December combined were up 4.7% compared to 2013. Consumer are slowly increasing their spending. Job gains, lower gasoline prices, and increases in home and stock prices are positives for household spending. But consumers remain cautious in the wake of the Great Recession.” — Stuart Hoffman, PNC Financial Services Group.