U.S. retail sales results were mixed in March. Among the 18 companies tracked by Thomson Reuters, same-store sales rose 5.3% year-over-year, a marked improvement from the 1.7% gain last March. However, several stores reported retail sales that fell well short of analyst expectations, sending their stocks tumbling in Thursday morning trading. Only a small percentage [...]
What the ‘End of Retail’ Means for Young Workers – The Atlantic
April 7, 2012 Via Leave a Comment
Quickly tying together a bunch of threads: My general take is that neither GDP nor the Employment-Population Ratio is a stat we should care about for its own sake. By that same token, in-and-of-itself, I don’t consider declines in unemployment from people leaving the workforce to better or worse than declines from people becoming unemployed. [...]
Retailers report positive March sales – KansasCity.com
April 7, 2012 Via Leave a Comment
NEW YORK — Retailers from discounter Target to department-store chain Macy’s reported better-than-expected sales in March in the latest sign that Americans are feeling better about the economy. A combination of warm weather and high demand for spring fashions boosted revenue for the month, but analysts say there’s much more than higher temperatures at play: [...]
Hispanics Lead the Recovery by Occupying Walmart, not Wall Street – Huffington Post
April 2, 2012 Via Leave a Comment
With a purchasing power expected to reach an unprecedented $1.2 trillion dollars in 2012, and a population already surpassing 50 million, Hispanics are a fast rising consumer force in the United States and perhaps our greatest hope for a sustained economic recovery. In fact, Hispanic growth is fueling an increase in buying power in this [...]
Everything Circles Back to European Retail Sales – Forbes
March 30, 2012 Via Leave a Comment
The market rebound following the Greek bail-out has been robust and in America, consumer sentiment has roared back from the winter lows. But over this summer, market focus is likely to drift back to Europe – and its biggest problem, slumping consumer demand in Spain and Portugal. Unless Spain snaps out of its -6% retail [...]
Hong Kong February retail sales rise 15.7 pct yr/yr – Reuters
March 29, 2012 Via Leave a Comment
Japan retail sales jump, further gains difficult – Reuters
March 29, 2012 Via Leave a Comment
TOKYO, March 29 (Reuters) – Japan’s retail sales climbed in February at the fastest pace in a year and a half as subsidies on cars and higher fuel prices push up sales, but further gains are unlikely as companies shun requests for higher pay. The 3.5 percent rise in retail sales in the year to February blew past expectations [...]
Walmart U.S. sales stay strong despite gas prices – Reuters
March 29, 2012 Via Leave a Comment
(Reuters) – Wal-Mart Stores Inc’s U.S. sales in the last two months have withstood rising gas prices and a tough economy that worried many of its shoppers, a top executive said on Wednesday. “I’m happy to tell you that strong momentum that we closed the year (with) continues in our new fiscal year, throughout February [...]
Retail Stores Fail in Germany for the Same Reason They Fail in the United States – Business Insider
March 28, 2012 Via Leave a Comment
Retail Stores Fail in Germany for the Same Reason They Fail in the United States (see addendum) The NYT had a story about an uptick in confidence among German retailers, suggesting that German consumers will increase their spending. The piece noted that Germans save more than people in the U.S. then told readers: “Germany’s economy [...]
Retail salespersons and cashiers were the occupations with the highest employment in 2011 – Lane Report
March 27, 2012 Via Leave a Comment
Retail salespersons and cashiers were the occupations with the highest employment in 2011, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. These two occupations combined made up nearly 6 percent of total U.S. employment, with employment levels of 4.3 and 3.3 million, respectively. National employment and wage information for all occupations is shown in table 1. These data [...]
