Stores post disappointing January sales
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Here's a sign of how shaky the economy has become: Wal-Mart says its shoppers are redeeming their holiday gift cards for basic items Â pasta sauce, diapers, laundry detergent Â instead of iPods or DVDs.
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Consumer confidence fell sharply in January on worries over deteriorating business conditions and a weakening job market, a business research group said Tuesday.
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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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WASHINGTON -- Retail sales, hurt by a big drop in auto purchases, slowed in January to the weakest performance in three months.
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Macyâs Inc. said on Wednesday that sales at its department stores open at least one fiscal year fell 7.1 percent in January, and announced plans to cut costs that include eliminating roughly 2,300 positions.
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Frigid winter winds blew life into U.S.  retailers' January sales as consumers snapped up cold weather  clothes that were left on the shelves from the holiday season.
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Sales stall as a tough April affects another retailer.
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Retail sales fell 0.3 percent in January &#151; the weakest showing in five months &#151; 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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Sales at the nation's retailers barely budged in February as bad winter weather kept already cautious shoppers away from the malls.
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January retail sales were  unexpectedly flat as motor vehicle, gasoline and electronics  sales dipped sharply in the post-holiday season after a  December that was stronger than originally indicated, a  Commerce Department report showed Wednesday.
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Report finds retailers suffer fourth month of tepid sales as job security issues, gas prices and food bills scare consumers. By Anne D&#39;Innocenzio.
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Treasury prices fell Wednesday after a new retail sales report showed an unexpected increase in consumer spending for January after the dismal holiday season.
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NEW YORK -- The traditional excuse for disappointing retail sales in February -- cold weather -- might not be enough to explain sluggish results posted by US merchants from Gap Inc. to AnnTaylor Corp. Unappealing fashions may also have something to do with it.
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Consumers lured by clearance sales and a fresh assortment of spring clothes gave many of the nation's retailers solid sales in January and hopes for even stronger business in the months ahead. Late-month snowstorms in the Midwest and Northeast depressed results for some merchants, but didn't hurt the industry's overall performance.
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An already weak holiday shopping season turned out to be even worse than expected for many of the nation's retailers, who reported Thursday they had sluggish sales results for December. The disappointing performance raised more concerns about consumer spending.
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Consumers lured by clearance sales of winter merchandise gave many of the nation's merchants solid sales in January despite heavy snowstorms in the Midwest and Northeast.
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U.S. retail sales dipped 0.3 percent  in January as automobile sales fell sharply, but purchases  outside the volatile car sector gained a healthy 0.6 percent, a  government report showed on Tuesday.