Retailers Emphasize “Spending Slowdown, Not Crisis”

Chicago, According to a report issued by MarketWatch on Tuesday, retailers and analysts are expected to tell investors this week to expect an economic slowdown, but no recession.

“We are not at recession levels,” Michael Niemira, chief economist of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC), told MarketWatch. The bulk of the nation’s largest chains will turn in their monthly sales reports on Thursday and the expectations of what’s ahead underscore that there was an abundance of shopping activity during August, whose same-store sales results are on track to rise 2.5%, according to the ICSC.

That’s below last year’s 3.8% increase, but Niemira said the slowing pace has been in place for most of the year and has been steady.