Two weekly indicators of the retail industry showed that retail sales were basically unchanged from a week ago, but overall retail spending activity is down nearly 2% from a year ago.
According to the International Council of Shopping Centers, the ICSC-Goldman Sachs (GS) Retail Chain Store Sales Index was unchanged from a week ago. From a year ago, retail sales were down 1.8% in the latest week.
“Consumers remain focused on staples and continue to stretch their dollar by shopping at [discount stores],” said ICSC’s Chief Economist Michael Niemira, according to Dow Jones.
Another retail-industry related report showed that sales rose last week. The Johnson RedBook Index showed that retail sales rose 0.7% for last week. For the same week a year ago, the Johnson RedBook Index is down 1.7% from the same week a year ago.
Both indices come out every week and try to track the activity in department stores and mall-based stores compared to a week ago. The two indices are usually heavily watched during retail shopping seasons like Christmas, Valentines Day and the back-to-school shopping season.
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