Chain-store sales in the United States rose for the fifth straight week in the last week of July, according to a survey by the International Council of Shopping Centers and UBS. Consumers, spurred on by hot weather, continued to purchase seasonal products. Back-to-school buying also helped the gain in sales, although sales in this category [...]

Retail sales figures released on Thursday show that buying has not slowed down even as higher gasoline prices are having some impact on shoppers’ habits. Sales increased in April across the board, from luxury retailers to discount stores. Luxury retailer Neiman Marcus saw its sales in its 37 stores increase by 12.5 percent. Department stores [...]

The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) reported that growth in the US industrial production sector was slowing, but remains strong overall. On it’s index it reported a slight fall to 55.3 from 56.4 in January, with growth still strong in 13 of 20 monitored areas. Although the markets had expected a higher index figure, overall [...]

The U.S. Department of Commerce has announced that growth in personal income for December was mostly accounted for by a large dividend paid out to Microsoft stocholders. Microsoft made a one-time exceptional dividend payment of $32 billion, pushing an an otherwise growth rate of 0.6% for December to 3.7% for the month. The pay-out was [...]