New York, July 7--U.S. chain store sales recovered some ground in the latest week, as shoppers stocked up on goods ahead of the Independence Day weekend, a report said on Tuesday.
Sales nudged up 0.9 percent in the week ended July 3, up from the 1.2 percent decrease in the previous week, the International Council of Shopping Centers and UBS said in a joint report. Compared with the same week a year ago, sales increased 4.4 percent, slightly above the 4.2 percent growth pace of the preceding week.
"Over this past week ending on Saturday, July 3, sales recovered partially from the prior week's decline as consumers geared up and began to celebrate the long holiday weekend," said Michael Niemira, the group's chief economist and director of research, in a statement.
Noting that sales slowed as last month ended, ICSC maintained its forecast for June sales growth in a range of 3.0 percent to 3.5 percent on a year-over-year basis, which would be sharply down from May's 5.7 percent gain.
The ICSC-UBS Weekly Chain Store Sales Snapshot is compiled from a group of major discount, department and chain stores across the country that report their weekly results.
