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The threat of war in Iraq combined with plummeting building material sales, caused in part by severe snowstorms, have contributed to a fall in US retail sales to their lowest levels since November 2001, just after the September 11 attacks. Consumer confidence also fell to a nine-year low. The decline in retail sales was about three times what analysts had predicted. "It really is painting a picture of an economy that is dead in the water," said Sal Guatieri, a senior economist at BMO Financial Group.