Same Store Retail Sales Rise Strongly

Same-store sales rose a very strong 7.0 percent in the January 19 week which is up 3 tenths from the prior week but down from expansions highs at the 9 percent level in late December. Facing this tough comparison, January's month-to-date measure is actually down 1.5 percent to indicate relative slowing so far this month for Redbook's sample. Given the government shutdown and delay of retail sales data, Redbook is now a central source of information and the results, though slowing from December, are nevertheless very favorable.