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Economy in Brief
U.S. Energy Prices Are Mixed
Retail gasoline prices slipped to $2.88 per gallon last week (+24.2% y/y)...
U.S. Home Builder Index Backpedals
The Composite Housing Market Index from the NAHB-Wells Fargo fell 2.9% (+3.0% y/y) to 68 during June ...
Japan's Loses Its Trade Surplus
In May, Japan has logged its second trade deficit in 13 months and only its third in the last 28 months...
U.S. Industrial Production Slips Unexpectedly
The Federal Reserve reported that industrial production eased 0.1% (+3.5% y/y) during May...
Empire State Manufacturing Index Continues to Strengthen
The Empire State Manufacturing Index of General Business Conditions rose to 25.0 during June, the highest level in eight months...
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% |
