Year-over-year sales fall 4.5% in latest week

Chicago ShopperTrak’s National Retail Sales Estimate reported that year-over-year retail sales declined 4.5% for the week ending Sept. 19, while sales slipped 10.0% versus the previous week ending Sept. 12.

Retail sales decreased last week as consumer spending waned during the annual lull following the Labor Day holiday. However, current sales for the month of September versus last year are only down 1.0%, which ShopperTrak attributes to gradual economic recovery and the fact that the economy began bottoming out about this time last year.

“Retail sales will most likely continue at these seasonal low levels until retailers start their Columbus Day sales promotions,” said Bill Martin, co-founder of ShopperTrak. “However, year-over-year comparisons could begin showing some improvement as our retail sales data will now be measured against last year’s abysmal fall performance.”