U.S. retail sales dropped sharply last month, in part because cold weather kept more Americans indoors, denting sales at car dealers and most other stores.

Retail sales fell 0.9% in January from the previous month, the Commerce Department said, after two months of healthy gains. It was a much bigger drop than economists expected and the biggest decline in a year.

The average temperature in January was the lowest since 1988, according to Pantheon Macroeconomics, and was particularly disruptive in the more temperate South. Devastating fires in Los Angeles may have also impacted spending.

The data do not show that Americans rushed to buy goods in January to get ahead of President Donald Trump’s proposed tariffs, as some analysts had expected. However, sales were revised higher for December. Many consumers may have just cut back in January after splurging during the holiday season.

Sales plummeted 2.8% last month at auto dealers and slumped at furniture stores, home and garden centers. Even in the usually strong online retail sector saw a 1.9% decline. Sales rose at general merchandise stores, a category that includes big retailers like Walmart and Target, and at restaurants and bars.

Inflation did tick higher last month despite the Federal Reserve’s efforts to cool prices through higher interest rates. The cost of groceries jumped in January from the previous month, pushed higher by soaring egg prices. Rising costs at the grocery store is exacting a toll on Americans.

— Associated Press

Brazil angling to join OPEC+

Brazil’s government on Tuesday approved joining OPEC+, a group of major oil-exporting nations, signaling the country’s evolution into a major oil state just nine months ahead of hosting the United Nations’ annual climate summit.

The National Council for Energy Policy’s approval came in response to an official invitation in 2023. The group includes the 12 members of OPEC, the longstanding group set up to coordinate oil production to stabilize markets, plus 10 more significant oil-producing nations with Russia by far the largest.

Though non-OPEC members agree to cooperate with OPEC nations, Brazil won’t have any binding obligation such as production cuts, Mines and Energy Minister Alexandre Silveira said at a news conference.

Totyota shifts $1.5B Mich. battery order

Toyota Motor Corp. has agreed to shift a $1.5 billion order with LG Energy Solution to bolster operations at a Michigan battery plant after General Motors Co. backed out of the project, according to people familiar with the matter.

GM said in December it would sell its $1 billion stake in the Lansing, Mich., plant, leaving LG scrambling to find new customers. Toyota agreed to transfer an existing order from another LG plant in Michigan when LG fully acquires the Lansing facility, which is expected to happen this spring, the Japanese automaker confirmed. That purchase order totals $1.5 billion, according to people familiar with the deal, who weren’t authorized to comment publicly.

The batteries Toyota is buying from LG can be used in either EVs or hybrid vehicles. Hybrids are typically less profitable for battery manufacturers because they require fewer cells.

— From news services