New York, NY, December 21--U.S. chain store retail sales rose in the latest week, as consumers picked up the pace of holiday shopping, a retail report said on Tuesday.
Sales rose 1.6 percent in the week ended December 18, compared with a 1.2 percent increase 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 growth recovered and increased to 3.5 percent after a 2.4 percent rise the preceding week.
"With just a few days left before Christmas, consumers continued to pick up their holiday shopping and gave retailers another week of positive sales," said Michael Niemira, ICSC's chief economist and director of research.
"Consumers have stated that they have been shopping even later this holiday season than last year, which provides some evidence that this season will have a late-last minute surge," Niemira said.
"For the holiday season, ICSC continues to expect that sales will grow by 2.5 percent to 3.0 percent, on a year-over-year basis," Niemira added.
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.
