Weak retail sales over Christmas
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Retail sales unexpectedly fall in December as consumers rein in their Christmas spending.
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Retail sales fell 0.3 percent in January  --  the weakest showing in five months  --  as a big drop in demand for cars offset strength at clothing and department stores. Spending was powered mostly by consumers anxious to use holiday gift cards.
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Drugstores reported unusually weak December sales on Thursday, citing a slow flu season, lower-priced generic drugs and sluggish demand for seasonal items.
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Retail sales in Britain dipped in December from the previous month, falling in the crucial run-up to Christmas, according to official data published Friday.
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Festive shopping will not pick up until the last two weeks before Christmas,  the British Retail Consortium warns.
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Retailers are in for a gloomy holiday season, with shoppers weighed down by the weakening housing market and the credit crunch, according to industry forecasts.
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The 2007 holiday shopping season is turning out to be the weakest in years after retailers across-the-board reported deep declines in their December sales Thursday.
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British retail sales volumes fell for a second month running in November and to the weakest level since March, a survey showed on Thursday.
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The January sales failed to help the UK High Street recover from a poor Christmas season, a survey by the British Retail Consortium finds.
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Retailers reported mostly gloomy December sales results, hurt by snowstorms as well as deep discounting aimed at getting cash-strapped consumers to open their wallets during retail's most important month.
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Many U.S. retailers are expected to  report disappointing December sales later this week, hurt by  everything from the challenging economy to unfavorable weather  to the calendar, which shifted more holiday sales to November.
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Wal-Mart Stores Inc. reported surprisingly weak November sales on Saturday, even as U.S. bargain-hunters jammed stores in search of gifts at the start of the crucial holiday shopping season.
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U.S. retailers posted weak sales growth in December, as snow storms, discounts and economic uncertainty conspired to make the 2007 holiday shopping season the worst in 5 years.
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Christmas sales in Britain appear set this year for another bonanza, but fewer retailers are likely to share in it amid signs consumer spending is wavering, a study said.
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Economic pressures and online deals might have led consumers to sharply limit their trips to retailers in the week leading up to Christmas, data tracker ShopperTrak RCT said on Thursday.
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Drugstores reported unusually weak  December sales on Thursday, weighed down by a slow flu season,  lower-priced generic drugs and sluggish sales of seasonal  items.
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U.S. shoppers have kept a tight grip  on their wallets this holiday season with indices on Tuesday  showing sluggish sales in the second week of the  season.