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Seasonally adjusted figures released by the Commerce Department on Friday show U.S. retail and food-services sales rose 0.3% from January and 3.9% from a year ago. If car and auto-part sales were excluded, the gain would be even bigger, 0.8% month-over-month and 4.2% year-over-year. (See 10 things to buy during the recession...
...results were roughly in line with same-store sales reported last week. In that report, owners posted a 4% year-over-year sales increase in February at stores they had owned at least a year, reversing the 4.7% decline posted during the same month a year earlier. Today's report casts a wider net, covering everything from mom-and-pop retail shops to car dealers, so the fact that it is similar to what big retailers were reporting says the February gains were broadly distributed - a positive sign for the economy...
...Shepherdson, chief economist at High Frequency Economics, offered an equally qualified cheer. "This is a very pleasant surprise," he reported to clients on Friday. "Before we get too excited," he warned, "note that one good month is not a trend - December and January sales were much weaker...
...AlixPartners report released earlier this month showed a clear "shift to thrift" among the 7,700 Americans surveyed. The report found 66% of department-store shoppers, 55% of apparel consumers and 53% of electronics shoppers had switched retailers to find lower-priced goods. Consumers who used to shop for "the best" are now settling for products that are "good enough" with a lower price tag, the report said. (See pictures of retailers that have gone out of business...
...public mood promises to sour even further. Most of the austerity measures haven't even been implemented yet. The VAT increase goes into effect on March 15, and civil servants will see their upcoming Easter bonuses - equal to half a month's salary - slashed by 30%. Greeks are already feeling the pinch of the economic downturn, and many fear the measures will only deepen their pain. The government's official prediction is that the economy will shrink by 0.3% this year and then begin to recover. But many Greeks and economists think those expectations are overly optimistic...