New York, August 10--Chain store sales grew in the latest week thanks to state sales tax holidays, though the pace slowed from the previous period, a report said on Tuesday.
Sales rose by 0.1 percent in the week ended August 7, down slightly from a 0.2 percent rise 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 by 3.1 percent, matching the 3.1 percent pace of the preceding week.
ICSC maintained the low end of its forecast for July sales growth in a range of 3.0 percent to 4.0 percent, on a year-over-year basis.
"Another round of state sales tax holidays helped propel traffic and sales this past week," said Michael Niemira, ICSC's chief economist and director of research.
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.
