Retail sales down, largely due to construction

The Department of Revenue released its revenue report for the first quarter of 2010. There are some gains since this time last year in sales of cars and food service, but those small gains were overshadowed by a huge lag in the construction sector.

The overall decline in taxable retail sales is 2.9 percent. This is disappointing news for a state that relies on these sales for about 40 percent of state revenues. But it isn't unexpected, given the slow and bumpy economic recovery so many states are trying to manage.

For more information, you can check out DOR's numbers here.