Report: Sales See Slight Uptick at End of December

New York Retail sales increased by a tepid 2.3% for the last week in December compared to the same period a year ago, according to figures from the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) released Wednesday.

Meanwhile, sales slipped by .2% from the previous week.

"After two back-to-back strong weekly gains, it was not unexpected that the latest week's pace dipped," said Michael P. Niemira, ICSC chief economist in a statement. “The good news is that gift cards once again made up a significant portion of holiday gift expenditures this year and that will propel sales into January.”

For the two-month holiday shopping season (November-December), ICSC expects same-store sales performance to increase by about 2.5% or lower.