New York, June 13, 2006--Chain store sales recovered last week, stemming declines that had persisted for over a month and hinted at weakness in the economy.
The International Council of Shopping Centers and UBS Securities said its weekly chain store sales measure jumped 1.2 percent in the week ended June 10, following a 0.1 percent gain in the prior week.
"Consumers finally opened up their wallets a bit more last week after being more tight-fisted in the prior five weeks," said Michael Niemira, chief economist and director of research at ICSC.
Compared to the same week last year, sales rose 4 percent, after the prior week's 3.4 percent year-on-year increase.
