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Economy in Brief
Texas Factory Sector Index Retreats; Expectations Are Mixed
The Dallas Fed indicated in its Texas Manufacturing Outlook Survey that the General Business Activity Index fell to 28.1 in September...
German IFO Index Marks Time
The German IFO Institute index has gone sideways in September...
FIBER: Industrial Commodity Prices Weaken
The FIBER Industrial Materials Price Index eased 0.3% during the last four weeks...
EMU Sinks on New Flash PMI Readings
The EMU PMI sank to its cyclical low in mid-2016 then hit its cycle higher in 2018...
U.S. Financial Accounts See Borrowing Ease with Downswing in Federal Government Needs
Borrowing in U.S. financial markets slowed in Q2 2018...
by Tom Moeller February 15, 2005
Chain store sales inched up another 0.1% last week following the 2.2% spike the prior week according to the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC)-UBS survey.
The rise lifted sales in early February 0.7% ahead of the January average which rose 0.9% from December.
During the last ten years there has been a 58% correlation between y/y change in chain store sales and the change in non-auto retail sales less gasoline, as published by the US Census Department.
The leading indicator of chain store sales from ICSC rose 0.3% in early February (+0.7% y/y).
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.
| ICSC-UBS (SA, 1977=100) | 02/12/05 | 02/05/05 | Y/Y | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Weekly Chain Store Sales | 446.2 | 445.8 | 1.7% | 4.6% | 2.9% | 3.6% |
