Economy

Retail might not perform as well in 2015 as first expected. The National Retail Federation originally predicted sales would grow 4.1 percent this year compared with 2014, but Wednesday it lowered that estimate to 3.5 percent, citing “unexpected” slow economic growth during the first quarter. The federation calculated that sales …

Mom and Dad will apparently scale back their back-to-school spending this year. The average family with children in grades K-12 plans to spend $630 on clothing, electronics and other school needs this year, down from nearly $670 in 2014 according to the National Retail Federation’s Back-to-School Spending Survey for 2015. …

California’s unemployment rate dropped to 6.3 percent in June, as the state added 22,900 non-farm jobs during the month. That was essentially unchanged from May but down 1.2 percent compared with June 2014, according to a report released Friday by the California Employment Development Department The state has added more …

Despite recent job growth, U.S. consumers are behaving cautiously. Spending was down 0.3 percent in June, the weakest showing since February when cold weather throughout much of the country put a damper on spending, the Commerce Department said Tuesday. The June drop followed a one percent increase in May, although …

The Internet is apparently putting a slight dent in back-to-school shopping. About 85 percent of all back-to-school purchase are expected to happen at brick-and-mortar stores, according to a recent survey of 1,000 consumers by the International Council of Shopping Centers. Seventeen percent of those surveyed said they plan to buy …

If you believe you’re seeing more businesses advertising available jobs, it’s probably not your imagination. Nationwide, there were 5.3 million job openings during May, the most openings in 15 years, according to data released Tuesday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. That was a slight increase compared with April, …