Retail sales so far in 2010 have continued their downward trend, falling nearly 4% compared with last year.

Total taxable retail sales in January were down 3.8% from January 2009, with sales for the three months from November to January down 2.2%, according to data from the Maine State Planning Office. Food store sales dropped 1.4%, while lodging fell 3.2%. Hardest hit were business operating sales, which dropped nearly 10%, and building supply sales, which fell 7.8% over January 2009.

In December 2009, retail sales fell only 2.2% compared with the same month the previous year.