U.S. stocks slid to a five-week low after a government report showed retail sales slumped at more than twice the rate forecast by economists, spurring concern the recession is deepening. JPMorgan Chase & Co., Macy’s Inc. and American Express Co. tumbled at least 3 percent after the Commerce Department said purchases decreased 2.7 percent in December, the sixth consecutive drop. Citigroup Inc. slid 14 percent as Chief Executive Officer Vikram Pandit works to unravel the financial- services empire following four straight quarters of losses. “The economy is going to feel really bad and we’ll continue to get negative headline news,” said Eric Green, director of research at Penn Capital Management, which oversees $3 billion in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. “There’s massive stimulus that we’ve never seen before coming. That will help the consumer.” The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index lost 2.1 percent to 853.85 at 9:37 a.m. in New York, below its lowest close since Dec. 4. The Dow average slumped 119.95 points, or 1.4 percent, to 8,328.61. The Russell 2000 Index lost 1.6 percent. The S&P 500 has dropped 5.5 percent in 2009 as companies from Alcoa Inc. to Intel Corp. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. spurred concern earnings will deteriorate amid the recession, while the unemployment rate in the U.S. climbed to the highest level in almost 16 years.

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