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Goodlettsville, Tenn. -- Dollar General Corp. on Monday lifted its earnings outlook for the year as fiscal third-quarter profit jumped 69% on continued growth in sales and margins.

The company reported earnings of $128.1 million in the latest quarter, compared with $75.6 million a year earlier. Net sales for the quarter ended Oct. 29 rose 10% to $3.22 billion and same-store sales increased 4.2%.

New York City -- The National Retail Federation on Friday released its 2010 list that annually ranks the 10 stores with the best customer service.

The list is based on surveys of more than 9,000 shoppers, all asked the following question: “Thinking of all the different retail formats (store, catalog, Internet or home shopping), which retailer delivers the best customer service?”

In total, the NRF ranked 46 stores, and will release the complete list in January.

New York City -- The Labor Department’s November report indicated that retailers didn't hire as many new workers during the month as they traditionally do at this time of year, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The report showed retailers are extending hours of existing workers and some may have hired earlier this year than usual.

Arlington, Va. -- After same-store sales reports on Thursday showed strengthened performance among most major retail chains, the Retail Industry Leaders Association said that November results may suggest that consumer activity is on the rise, and could indicate the strongest holiday shopping season retailers have experienced in recent years.

Columbus, Ohio -- Kantar Retail said Thursday that same-store sales got a big lift to 6% growth in November from a strong promotional environment, as well as from an easy year-ago comparison period and shifting shopper spending intentions.

The sales-weighted composite for the 30 retailers reporting -- most of them apparel retailers -- was better than the 1.7% same-store sales gain last month and the 0.9% gain in November of 2009 for the same measure. (The calculations don’t include Walmart, which stopped reporting monthly results in April 2009.)

Beaumont, Texas -- Consumer electronics chain Conn's reported Thursday that it narrowed its loss for the quarter ended Oct. 31 to $5.1 million, compared with a $14.4 million loss a year earlier.

Revenue fell 14% to $169.9 million, from $197.5 million. Analysts expected revenue of $167.1 million.

Same-store sales fell 16.3% during the quarter.