WASHINGTON, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- U.S. retail sales in December fell to their lowest level in a year, weighed down by decreasing auto sales and many other products.

U.S. retail sales softened 1.1 percent in December amid ongoing high inflation, according to data published Wednesday by the Commerce Department.

December's decline was the largest month-on-month drop since December 2021.

Altogether, U.S. restaurants and retailers clocked 677.1 billion U.S. dollars in sales last month, a 1.1 percent drop from November's revised 685 billion U.S. dollars.

That amounted to the second month-on-month decrease in a row.