Specifically, CFO John David Rainey noted that sales had been "somewhat uneven" in the prior couple of months, suggesting that inflation and higher interest rates have finally caught up with consumers. As for Walgreens, although it would be easy to link its pharmacists' walkout (in protest of their difficult working conditions) in late-October to last month's loss, the two aren't connected much, if at all. Indeed, the stock reached a multi-decade low last month on a combination of concerns about theft, a dividend cut, management turnover, layoffs, and labor headaches, just to name a few.