· Chain store sales dipped 0.1% last week after posing a 0.8% rise during the prior week, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC)-UBS.

· Despite the weak performance during Thanksgiving week, sales for the month of November rose 0.4% from the October average which fell 0.8% from September. 

· During the last ten years there has been a 45% correlation between the y/y change in chain store sales and the change in nonauto retail sales less gasoline.

· The ICSC-UBS retail chain-store sales index is constructed using the same-store sales (stores open for one year) reported by 78 stores of seven retailers: Dayton Hudson, Federated, Kmart, May, J.C. Penney, Sears and Wal-Mart.

· The leading indicator of chain store sales from ICSC-UBS fell 0.1% (-1.1% y/y) for the second weekly decline.