• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, March 3, 2008

The Commerce Department says consumer spending, once tweaked to take out the effect of inflation, was flat in January--just as it was in December.

And, while this probably won't come as news to the many apparel companies reporting sales declines recently, it appears women are cutting back on their spending before men, reports TNS Retail Forward, a retail consulting company based in Columbus, Ohio.

In its most recent ShopperScape survey, "women are planning to edge back a little bit more than men," says Mandy Putnam, VP at Retail Forward. When asked how much they plan to spend in the month ahead, compared to the same time last year, 29% of women say they will spend either somewhat or much less, compared to 21% of men. Only 12% say they plan to spend somewhat or much more, compared to 14% of men.

And with rising gas and food prices cutting deeper into discretionary spending, women in every demographic seem to be holding on tighter to their wallets.

Sears, Kmart, Limited Brands, JCPenney, Macy's, and even the swanky Nordstrom all reported sales slumps recently. Gap Inc. and Kohl's were the latest to join the quarterly soft-sales soft-shoe, with the Gap reporting a 3% decline in comparable store sales for the fourth quarter. (But comparable store sales at its Banana Republic division did gain 2%). And Kohl's reported comparable-store sales dropped 4%; in its forecast for the year ahead, it expects comparable-store sales results to come in either flat, or down as much as 3%.

The Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis says that spending in January rose 0.4%. But after taking away the effect of rising prices, the gain was microscopic--an increase of less than 0.1%. And for retailers, whether they choose to call the current environment a slowdown, like President Bush, or the prelude to a recession, as do many economists, it all amounts to the same thing: People just aren't shopping.

But for those stores that rely heavily on women's apparel, the news is more sobering. Part of the issue, Putnam says, is discretionary income. "Women earn less," she says. "There are also more single parents who are women than men, and they are more likely to postpone purchases and shop in stores less frequently."