more than expected

Generally speaking, I've come to the conclusion that economic analysts are idiots. Today we learned that: Retail sales unexpectedly fell in December, leaving 2009 with the biggest yearly drop on record

So says CNBC at least. This is, of course, not true. The word that makes it untrue is "unexpectedly". It's hard to fathom any decent economists believing that a drop in retail sales in December was "unexpected". Do those who have these "expectations" live with Bin Laden in a cave? Or are they just mentally challenged buffoons? Do these analysts ever venture beyond the Hamptons and the Upper West Side? Apparently not. The briefest trip to a mall or chat with a neighbor in December would have dashed any "expectation" that people were shopping more.

The second paragraph takes matters a step further:
In another disappointing economic report, the number of newly laid-off workers requesting unemployment benefits rose more than expected last week...

"More than expected" being the operative phrase. Who expected job losses to stem in the first week of the year? What are they taking? Can the rest of us have some? Wouldn't any reasonably intelligent person expect the opposite - more job losses directly following the Christmas season?

With everything that the majority of economists have gotten wrong or missed in the last 2 years why should any of us listen to a word out of their mouths?