A 0.6 percent drop in retail sales last month offered a new sign that the economy is in recession, Bloomberg reported.

Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg had forecast that retail sales would rise 0.2 percent after a 0.4 percent gain in January. The decline may indicate that the biggest job losses in five years and record fuel costs are causing consumers to cut back on spending, which makes up more than two-thirds of the economy.

Sales at automobile dealerships and parts stores fell 1.9 percent in February and purchases at restaurants and bars declined 0.4 percent, according to the Commerce Department’s report. Receipts at gasoline stations fell 1 percent last month as well. Excluding automobiles, gasoline and building materials, the group the government uses to calculate the gross domestic product, sales were unchanged from January.

The Labor Department also reported today that the number of Americans continuing to collect unemployment benefits rose to the highest level in 2 1/2 years, while first-time claims remained unchanged at 353,000 last week.