IE Business Daily Business news for the Inland Empire.
The summer shopping season is off to a solid start.
National retail sales were up two percent for the week that ended Saturday compared with the previous week, according to the International Council Shopping Centers and Goldman Sachs Weekly Chain Store Sales Index.
Year-over-year, the news was even better: sales were up 4.1 percent, the strongest year-over-year gain since June 1, 2013, according to the weekly index, which was released Tuesday.
Compared with the last year, business was up sharply in most retail sectors, specifically department stores, discounters, dollar stores and wholesale clubs.
Last week’s performance was encouraging because June is usually the second-strongest retail month of the year, accounting for about 10 percent of total national sales, said Michael Niemira, the council’s chief economist and vice president of research, in a statement.
National same-store sales are expected to increase 3.5 percent this month compared with June 2013, according to the index.
