Washington, DC, August 30--Sales at major U.S. retail chain stores fell 0.3% last week, the fourth decline in a row, the International Council of Shopping Centers said Tuesday.
Same-store sales decelerated to 3.9% year-over-year growth from 4% the previous week.
"Consumers continue to worry about those high energy expenses and are scaling back on discretionary spending," said Michael Niemira, chief economist for the shopping center group.
ICSC expects August same-store sales to increase by about 4% year-over-year when most companies report on Thursday.
