A weekly measure of sales at chain stores, discounters, and department stores. It is a less consistent indicator of retail sales than the weekly ICSC index. It is also calculated differently than other indicators. For instance, figures for the first week of the month are compared with the average for the entire previous month. When two weeks are available, then these are compared with the average for the previous month, and so on. It might be more useful to compare year-over-year figures since these are indeed compared to the comparable week a year ago. This index is correlated with the general merchandise portion of retail sales covering only about 10 percent of total retail sales. Why Investors Care
| Released on 5/30/07 For wk 5/26 2007 | ||||||||
| ||||||||
Highlights
Redbook reported a modest 2.4 percent rise in store sales for the May 26 week, little changed from the prior week's pace. The report cited unseasonably cool weather for the results. Volatile weather along with the Easter calendar shift hurt sales very badly in April. A repeat of April's weakness in retail sales, or anything near it, would shake up the economic outlook. Chain stores won't report their May results until next week.
powered by
![[Econoday]](../../../../../../../../../images/logo.gif){kind=logo}