US retail sales in chain stores down by 0.1%

US retail sales in February have fallen for seven consecutive months as a government report has highlighted the impact of rising unemployment which has affected consumer confidence and spending.

According to the latest Bloomberg News survey, purchases have fallen by around 0.5 percent and the report from the Commerce Department, due on March 12, is predicted to reveal a small trade gap for January as fewer goods had been brought.

Major chains (that have been running for a year or more) are also experiencing a difficult time, albeit slightly better than analysts were expecting as the major chain stores in February were down 0.1 percent compared to 2008, although this was mainly prominent in the higher end stores.

Despite the slight improvement it is by no means the beginning of a turnaround.

As a result of the downturn consumers are now choosing to shop at discounters like Wal-Mart stores so that budgets can be stretched, as a clear trend can be seen in that the majority of US consumers are foregoing buying luxury goods such as cars.

Similar to the good times experienced by German chains Aldi and Lidl in the UK, Wal-Mart, which is the world’s largest retailer, has announced that sales at stores open and established over a year rose 5.1 percent in February.

Story link: US retail sales in chain stores down by 0.1%