Consumer Attitudes & Behavior

The trend of improving delinquency rates within Target’s credit card portfolio just keeps getting better, and in May the percentage of customers past due on their accounts sank to another new low.

Target’s more selective granting of credit and shoppers more judicious use of their cards sent the number of accounts 60 and 90 day past due down to 2.6% and 1.8%, respectively. Those figures are represented continued improvement from comparable April numbers of 2.7% and 1.9% that also set a new low and were a marked improvement from earlier in the year.

New York -- With only a few exceptions, retailers are posting solid gains in May, with such chains as Target, TJX, Ross and TJX Cos. beating Wall Street forecasts for the month. The Thomson Reuters Same-Store Index, which tracks the stores that release monthly sales reports, is expected to rise 3.6% in May.

"Analysts are taking a careful approach to May same-store sales given the cautious tone issued by most retailers on second-quarter earnings guidance," said Ken Perkins of Retail Metrics, in a research report.

Chelmsford, Mass. -- Kronos Inc. said Thursday that its Retail Labor Index for May, which characterizes the current state of the demand and supply sides of the labor market within the U.S. retail sector, rose to 4.1%. (This index is defined as the ratio of hires to applications within a given month, expressed as a percentage. A level of 3.0% means that for every 100 applications received, three hires occurred).

The May reading of the Retail Labor Index reflected a moderate decline in hiring outpaced by a sharp drop in applications.


New York -- J.C. Penney appears to be relenting a bit on the strict non-promotional strategy launched by CEO Ron Johnson.

In a report on CNBC.com, Deutsche Bank analyst Charles Grom said the chain has added five "Best Price Friday" events to its calendar. The first took place the Friday of Memorial Day weekend, and another is scheduled for Black Friday in November. Others may occur at peak sales times, according to Grom.

New York -- A survey released Wednesday by Harris Interactive found that spending can be impacted by concern for the environment. While that has remained constant among many age groups, more young adults ages 18-to-24 say they are taking the environment into consideration when making purchases.

New York -- Consumer confidence in May rose to the highest level since October 2007, according to the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan final index of consumer sentiment. The index rose increased to 79.3 from 76.4 the prior month. 

Industry analysts said a decline in gas prices and an improving housing market is helping offset slower job growth and volatile stock prices.

Estimates for the confidence measure ranged from 76 to 79, according to a Bloomberg survey of 60 economists.
 

By Rick Parker, [email protected]

“Is there a better job out there?”

This is a question that hourly employees within retail industry are asking themselves more frequently, often leading them to say “I quit,” to their current employer.

Consider trends from the government’s latest Job Openings and Labor Turnover survey (JOLTs):

Armonk, N.Y. -- Survey results released Thursday by IBM said that Americans are increasingly upbeat about their plans for the Memorial Day weekend, with a huge increase this year in the amount of people talking about traveling and spending compared to last year.

According to the IBM Social Sentiment Index, the "Desire Ratio" – the proportion of positive versus negative comments about shopping – increased by a factor of five for this Memorial Day compared with last year.