Retail sales up slightly

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.