Mastercard: Economy worse than expected in September

Almost everyone expected that September was a rough month, but a survey from Mastercard (NYSE:MA) shows that it was much worse than expected.

According to Reuters, "Not one spending category posted positive gains over last year, according to the report by SpendingPulse, the retail data service of MasterCard Advisors." The poll looks at everything from clothing to furniture sales.

The hardest hit sector may have been electronics and appliance sales, which were off almost 14% for the month.

While the news is likely to put further pressure on retail stocks and may lead to layoffs in that industry, it also shows how slow the federal government was to get into the act of helping the economy. But refusing to cut interest rates or increase the amount of money being pushed out to banks through its emergency funding window, the Fed made it almost certain that consumer credit would be undermined. The Fed's new program to expand the aid it give to banks comes too late.

The holidays will be hard for retailers, perhaps the worst they have been in decades. The Fed may not have saved Christmas but it could have gone a long way to soften the blow.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.