Consumers are shying away from retail stores in the New Year as two weekly surveys for the week ending Jan. 24 show shoppers continue to spend less compared to the prior week, month, and year.
The ICSC-Goldman Sachs survey reported that sales were down 2.4% year-over-year last week, compared to a -1.8% print in the prior report.
"Despite the modestly positive sales influences which came from sales over Martin Luther King Jr. weekend, the presidential inauguration kept consumers home watching television coverage rather than in stores," said Michael P. Niemira, chief economist at the ICSC.
He noted that weekly sales "slipped sharply" as well, with shoppers spending 1.8% less.
The ICSC-Goldman Sachs survey examines 75 retail chain stores in the U.S., excluding restaurants and vehicle demand.
The news was broadly consistent with the Johnson Redbook retail survey, which recorded a 2.3% decline in the week compared to the same period last year, the same pace of decline as lr.ast week's report. In addition, sales to date in January fell back 2.6% compared to December.
The weekly reports are third-tier data used to forecast official monthly statistics.
By Patrick McGee and edited by Nancy Girgis
©CEP News Ltd. 2009