A blustery sales week

WASHINGTON, March 6 (UPI) -- Retail sales receipts rose by 1.3 percent in the week ending Saturday after falling 1 percent the previous week, a trade association said Tuesday.

The International Council of Shopping Centers said sales also rose 1.7 percent over the same week of 2011.

The weather was mixed -- 1.7 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than the same week a year ago, but also 86 percent snowier.

Weather Trend International said there were more than 176 tornadoes during the week, driving "demand for cleanup supplies, chainsaws and generators ... from Arkansas to Indiana and throughout much of the Southeast."