New York, October 24, 2006--Chain store retail sales fell in the latest week after rising for the last two weeks as gasoline prices declining to their lowest level since December, a retail report said on Tuesday.
Weekly sales slid 1.1 percent in the week ended Oct. 21, compared with a 0.6 percent increase in previous week, the International Council of Shopping Centers and UBS said in a joint report.
The sharp drop in gasoline prices since late summer may be felt disproportionately by various income groups with prices still high enough to crimp spending among lower-income families, those making $35,000 or less annually, said Michael Niemira, ICSC's chief economist.
"In October that group's discretionary spending continued to be dragged down disproportionally -- an indication of the unevenness of gasoline price declines on spending," Niemira wrote in the group's latest report.
Prices on U.S. regular unleaded gasoline averaged $2.208 a gallon for the week ended Oct 23, the lowest since $2.197 a gallon in the week ended Dec. 26, 2005, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Meanwhile, colder-than-normal weather continued to play a positive factor for retailers, driving sales of winter clothing, Niemira said.
Compared with the same week a year ago, sales gained 2.9 percent after a 3.9 percent rise year-earlier advance in the prior week.
