US DATA: ICSC sales for Aug 20 wk: “Retailers across the county saw
some sales improvements, especially in apparel, however the slowing
trend in consumer spending continued this past week industry-wide as a
result of weaker discounter business. As a result, for the week ending
August 20, overall weekly retail sales slipped by 1.0 percent, according
to the ICSC-Goldman Sachs Weekly Chain Store Sales Index. On a
year-over-year basis retail sales also continued to slow (+3.0%).”