Survey: Weekly retail sales up from year ago

New York City A survey released Tuesday by the International Council of Shopping Centers and Goldman Sachs reported that chain-store sales for the week ended Oct. 3 rose 1% from the year-earlier period.

On a week-over-week basis, sales climbed 0.3%.

"A bout of cooler weather helped to spur customer traffic, especially at department stores and discounters, and helped the month to finish on a positive note," said Michael Niemira, ICSC's chief economist.

Niemira added that he expects September sales will be down about 2% with the possibility of results beating estimates.