NEW YORK – Sales at U.S. retail stores open at least one year rose 1.0 percent over the past week, erasing the previous week’s 0.5-percent decline, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers and UBS Securities LLC report for the seven days ended June 9, Bloomberg News said.
Compared with the same week of 2006, sales rose 2.1 percent in the week ended June 9, slowing from gains of 2.3 percent the previous week and 2.9 percent the week before.
The ICSC predicted sales will rise in June compared with a year ago, but at a slower pace than May’s 2.5-percent gain, as high gasoline prices and a slow housing market spur consumers to cut back on discretionary purchases.
In the week ended June 11, U.S. gasoline prices averaged $3.08 per gallon – a five week low – after retreating from the May 21 high of $3.22, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
The International Council of Shopping Centers, a New York-based trade group, and investment bank UBS track same-store sales at about 60 chains that represent about 10 percent of U.S. retail sales. Additional information is available at www.icsc.org.
