Business

NEW YORK - American consumers went into hiding in September, leaving retailers with dismal sales and an uncertain future well beyond the holiday season.

As the fallout from the financial meltdown pushed spending even lower, retailers' monthly sales figures reported Wednesday showed that even discounters weren't immune to shoppers' mounting worries about their financial security.

"Discretionary spending has come to a trickle," said Ken Perkins, president of research company RetailMetrics LLC. "Consumers are the most worried I have seen since at least the 1991 recession."

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, posted solid results that were a bit below expectations.

Target Corp. reported a bigger-than-expected drop and expects problems with its credit-card business to last through the rest of the year as customers have trouble making payments.

Luxury stores such as the Neiman Marcus Group Inc. and Saks Inc. suffered sharp drops; many mall-based apparel stores and department stores such as J.C. Penney Co. Inc. and American Eagle Outfitters Inc. are mired in a deep sales slump.

Analysts and store executives expect spending to deteriorate even more.

Consumers are having a hard time getting loans and credit lines. That's adding to the stress felt by shoppers already dealing with high gas and food prices and a slumping home market.