十一月美国零售商销售数据___Walmart的节前攻势看来失败了

henry

美国圣诞的消费前景不乐观.
The Wall Street Journal Interactive Edition
NEW YORK -- Retailers began posting mixed November same-store sales, but many said slow sales in the beginning of the month picked up during the Black Friday weekend, positioning them for a good holiday sales season.
Strength at department stores and teen/child sectors were offsetting weakness
According to Thomson Financial, based on 44 merchants that have reported so far, 26 retailers had results that missed expectations, 16 beat estimates and two met forecasts
Last year major retail chains reported a 3.3% gain in same-store sales, or sales at stores open at least a year, as spending was lifted by soaring home values. But while the housing market has grown shaky over the past year, the job market and wages lately have been strong.
Wal-Mart confirmed a 0.1% decline in its November same-store sales -- short of its earlier forecast for flat same-store sales in November. That marks Wal-Mart's first same-store sales decline in more than a decade. The company said it expects sales to be flat to up 1% in December
This is pretty discouraging," said Ken Perkins, president of RetailMetrics LLC, a research company in Swampscott, Mass. But he added that Wal-Mart's weak sales won't be a harbinger of a broad based weakness across the retail sector.Wal-Mart recently has missed its monthly sales forecasts despite a late-summer drop in gasoline prices that should have benefited its lower-income consumers. The company blames a botched fashion strategy, remodeling efforts that have disrupted traffic and difficult comparisons with a year ago, when shoppers in the Southeast scrambled to stock up on essentials in the wake of big hurricanes.
Corp. said sales rose 5.9%, topping a 5.7% estimate from Thomson First Call. At Costco Wholesale</A> Corp., same-store sales were 5% higher, missing the 5.8% average increase expected by analysts reporting to Thomson First Call.

[ 本帖最后由 Trend 于 2007-1-10 18:23 编辑 ]

henry

Consumers Show Caution in Spending
Despite strong gains in wages and salaries, American consumers increased their spending at an unexpectedly modest pace in October, showing caution in the face of a struggling housing market.
Personal spending rose $16.9 billion in October, up 0.2% from the previous month, the Commerce Department reported. Spending had fallen 0.2% in September but was up 0.1% in August.
Adjusted for inflation, consumer spending rose 0.4% in October, helped by a decline in gasoline prices.
Some economists had expected stronger spending in October, considering the sharp drops in gasoline prices in recent months. Gasoline fell to roughly $2.29 in late November from an average topping $3.08 a gallon in early August. Each one-cent decline in gasoline prices adds roughly $1 billion to consumers' spending power, at an annualized rate.
The modest gains in spending were especially surprising given that consumers' incomes grew at a healthy pace in October. Personal income advanced at a seasonally adjusted rate of 0.4%, following a 0.5% gain in each of the three preceding months, the Commerce Department said.
Wages and salaries, which account for a large share of personal income, climbed 0.6% in October, matching September's advance. Economists said wages are rising because companies are finding that they must compete for qualified workers in an increasingly tight labor market. The unemployment rate was 4.4% in October, a five-year low.
Nonetheless, analysts said some consumers remain guarded about spending because the struggling housing market makes them feel less wealthy and there's a concern that energy prices could escalate.
We hoped the drop-off in gas prices would have added more vigor" to consumer spending in October, said Stephen Gallagher, an economist at Société Générale SA in New York. "Maybe they're worried about their home values and gas prices."
So far, retailers have reported mixed results this holiday season. For November,  Corp., reported healthy sales gains for last monthAlso Thursday, the Labor Department said initial claims for unemployment benefits rose by 34,000 to 357,000 in the week ended Saturday. The four-week moving average rose by 7,250 claims to 325,000, the highest level since June 3. A Labor Department official said the rise may be due to seasonal variations common to the holiday season.

[ 本帖最后由 Trend 于 2007-1-10 18:26 编辑 ]