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October 3, 2014 According to the National Retail Federation’s calculations, retail industry employment increased by 35,500 jobs in September, with upward revisions for July and August.  Employment gains were seen in most retail categories with the exception of clothing and clothing accessories stores, which lost 3,000 jobs, and health and personal care stores, which lost... Read more »

October 2, 2014 Rite Aid reported $2 billion in sales for the four weeks ended September 27, representing a 4.5% increase over the comparable yer-ago period. Same-store sales increased 5.1% over the prior-year period, including a 2.3% lift in front-end same-store sales and growth of 6.3% in pharmacy and comparable sales.  Pharmacy same-store  sales included... Read more »

October 1, 2014 September posts a decline, following strong August gain. The STEM related categories continue to gain while other occupational groups show losses. Online advertised vacancies declined 137,200 to 5,072,000 in September, according to The Conference Board Help Wanted OnLine (HWOL) Data Series released today.  The August Supply/Demand rate stands at 1.84 unemployed for... Read more »

September 30, 2014 Walgreens posted fourth quarter sales of $19.1 billion, representing an increase of 6.2% compared to the year-ago period, while sales for the fiscal 2014 ended August 31 increased 5.8% to a record $76.4 billion. Front-end comparable store sales increased 1.3% in the fourth quarter compared with last year’s fourth quarter.  Customer traffic... Read more »

10/1/2014 New Orders, Employment and Production Growing; Inventories Growing; Supplier Deliveries Slowing Economic activity in the manufacturing sector expanded in September for the 16th consecutive month, and the overall economy grew for the 64th consecutive month, say the nation’s supply executives in the latest Manufacturing ISM Report On Business. The report was issued today by... Read more »

September 30, 2014 The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index, which had increased in August, declined in September.  The Index now stands at 86.0, down from 93.4 in August.  The Present Situation Index decreased to 89.4 from 93.9, while the Expectations Index dropped to 83.7 from 93.1 in August. Says Lynn Franco, Director of Economic Indicators... Read more »

September 29, 2014 For the U.S. as a whole, temperatures will trend similar to last year and below normal, but there will be a split in trends across the nation with warmer temperatures in the West and cooler temperatures in the more densely populated East.  The month will begin with warm weather across much of... Read more »

September 24, 2014 According to Deloitte’s annual retail holiday sales forecast, steadily improving economic fundamentals should moderately boost holiday sales in stores and online this year. “Income, wage and job growth are positive indicators heading into the holiday season,” said Daniel Bachman, Deloitte’s senior U.S. economist.  “Debt levels remain at historical lows, and stock market... Read more »

September 24, 2014 Sales of newly built, single-family homes increased 18 percent in August to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 504,400 units in August, the highest level in six years, according to newly released data by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau. “This jump in sales activity... Read more »