Lottery sales weaken: Good!

The Wall Street Journalreports (subscription required) that the soft economy is taking its toll on a business that had been thought to be part of the holy trinity of recession-proof vices: alcohol, tobacco and gambling.

California has reported that its lottery ticket sales are down about 10% over the past few months, along with a drop of 4% in Texas. Nationally, lottery ticket sales are down a little under 2% from July through September versus the same period in 2007. Of course, many retailers would kill to have their sales down just 2% so the lottery is still outperforming. It may not be recession-proof but it certainly qualifies as recession-resistant.