November Retail Sales Gain
U.S. retailers, including Wal-Mart Stores and Costco Wholesale Corp., reported November sales that topped economists’ estimates, Bloomberg reported Thursday.
Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, said sales at its stores open for at least a year gained 1.5%, while Costco reported a 9% gain, Bloomberg said.
Wal-Mart’s sales were within its forecast for no change to a gain of as much as 2%. The results exceeded the estimate for an increase of 1.2% from an analyst survey by Retail Metrics LLC, Bloomberg reported.
The retailer expects December same-store sales to advance 1% to 3%, Bloomberg said. Wal-Mart is ranked No. 2 in the Transport Topics Private 100 listing of private carriers.
November same-store sales for U.S. retailers climbed 2.5%, Bloomberg said, citing the International Council of Shopping Centers.
The National Retail Federation projects that November and December will rise 4%, the smallest gain since 2002, Bloomberg reported.
