ObozoConomy

Oh, it could have been worse, I guess.  Could have gone negative.

...MasterCard Advisors SpendingPulse reported a 0.7% increase in holiday sales as compared to last year. The number was a disappointment as the general consensus expected sales to rise by up to 4.0%. Instead, the modest uptick represented the slowest growth in four years...

That would be less than 25% of expected growth.

Four years of rolling up debt, increasing costs-of-regulation, and total uncertainty over huge tax increases, and that's what you get.