WASHINGTON (MNI) – The following is the commentary from the
ICSC-Goldman Sachs Weekly Chain Store Sales Snapshot released Tuesday:
For the week ending January 22, weekly retail sales declined by 1.2
percent, according to the ICSC-Goldman Sachs Weekly Chain Store Sales
Index. However, the year-over-year pace improved from the prior week,
increasing by 2.8 percent.
“Adverse weather in the East once again curbed discretionary
spending, negatively impacting sales,” said Michael Niemira, ICSC
director of research and chief economist. “However, January is a low
volume month for sales and although it is shaping up to be softer than
recent trends because of the impact of weather on discretionary sales,
there is little fundamental significance to read into that weakness,”
Niemira added.
For January, given the trends through the month, ICSC is lowering
its expectation for the month to a gain of about 2% — which is about
0.5 percent lower than the expectation earlier in the month.
** Market News International Washington Bureau: 202-371-2121 **
[TOPICS: MAUDT$,MAUDS$,M$U$$$]
