US retailers posted mixed sales results for January while new jobless benefit claims rose unexpectedly last week. Meanwhile, manufacturers' orders gained in December.
In US retail, Macy's, Costco Wholesale Corp and Abercrombie & Fitch Co were exceptions in providing positive outlooks as they offered upbeat outlooks. Macy's said its restructuring, which is targeting regional tastes, is being well received and it lifted its fourth-quarter earnings forecast. January same-store sales, at locations open at least a year, rose 3.4%. Meanwhile, Costco said higher gasoline prices and strengthening foreign currencies had a positive impact on lsame-store sales while Abercrombie & Fitch, which targets the teen market, has rebounded and reported a sales increase of 8%.
Retailers tracked by Thomson Reuters are expected to report a 2.5% rise in same-store sales for last month, after a 2.9% gain in December and a 5.7% drop in January 2009.
Weekly Jobless Claims
Initial jobless claims for public benefits climbed by 8,000 to 480,000 last week, Department of Labor data showed today.
The four-week average of new claims, which aims to smooth out volatility, also worsened, rising by 11,750 to 468,750.
The number of US workers continuing to claim jobless benefits held steady at 4.6m.
On Friday, the closely watched monthly employment report from the Department of Labor will be published.
Manufacturers' Orders
New orders for manufactured goods in December, up eight of the last nine months, increased $3.7 billion or 1.0% to $370.4 billion, the US Census Bureau reported today. This followed a 1.0% November increase. Excluding transportation, new orders increased 1.2%
Shipments, up six of the last seven months, increased $7.0 billion or 1.9% to $383.1 billion. This followed a 1.6% November increase.
Unfilled orders, down fifteen consecutive months, decreased $7.4 billion or 1.0% to $716.7 billion. This was the longest streak of consecutive monthly decreases since the series was first published on the present basis in 1992. It followed a 0.7% November decrease.
The unfilled orders-to-shipments ratio was 5.46, down from 5.65 in November.
Inventories, down following two consecutive monthly increases, decreased $0.3 billion or 0.1% to $495.0 billion. This followed a 0.2% November increase.
The inventories-to-shipments ratio was 1.29, down from 1.32 in November.
