Weekly sales up 4%

New York City A report released Tuesday by the International Council of Shopping Centers and Goldman Sachs said that chain-store sales for the week ended April 10 rose 4% from the year-earlier period.

On a week-over-week basis, sales inched up 0.1%.

"Sales were impacted by the usual post-Easter seasonal weakness, but adjusted for that, sales edged up for the fourth consecutive gain and were helped by seasonally warm weather that continued to drive spring-merchandise demand," said Michael Niemira, ICSC's chief economist. "Although the reported sales figures for the full fiscal month of April are likely to be close to flat or off slightly, the two-month performance appears on a 4% track, which is pretty healthy."