1.
Consumer Corner: Foreclosure settlement no magic bullet for economy
WASHINGTON, Dec. 2 (UPI) -- Retail sales in the United States rose slightly in the week ending Nov. 29 but the week hasn't halted a downward trend, an industry trade group said.
The International Council of Shopping Centers-USB reported Tuesday that sales were up 0.1 percent for the week and 1.3 percent compared with a year ago.
"Black Friday sales were good due to the bargains but one good day did not fundamentally reverse the underlying weak spending trend throughout the month," the report said.
Department store traffic, excluding grocery stores, gained for the second consecutive week but customers indicating they had completed half their holiday shopping by the weekend matched last year's survey results at 22 percent, ICSC said.
The average price of a gallon of unleaded gasoline fell for the 11th consecutive week, losing $2.023 per gallon since Sept. 15 but "the gasoline price drop has had little positive impact on spending, which has been been offset by the recession drag," the report said.
|
|
|
| Additional Business News Stories | |
PORTLAND, Maine, Feb. 13 (UPI) --
So-called tar sands oil from Canada is "much, much worse" for the environment than conventional crude oil, a Maine environmental advocate said.
|
SAINT-LAURENT, Quebec, Feb. 13 (UPI) --
The Canadian coast guard has picked Thales Canada for the supply and installation of helicopter tracking systems aboard 22 aircraft and 17 ships.
|
Local markets will probably not be swamped by waves of foreclosures following the multi-state mortgage settlement announced yesterday. Rather, the huge inventory of one to two million foreclosures will enter markets gradually....
|
Investors will not have the distraction of financial reports to look forward to this week. They will have to look at the spot news headlines instead.
|
| Stories | Photos | People | Comments |
View Caption
