RetailSalesUp

Retail Sales Up in February, Surprising Economists

Retail sales rose in February despite the bad weather, surprising the economists (and they are often surprised) who expected a decline. Sales for the month climbed 0.3 percent, the Commerce Department reported. That may not sound like much, but it's 3.9 percent better than February 2009 and a jolt to some on Wall Street who thought the sales rate would be in negative territory. "The consumer continues to come out of its shell after the shell-shock of the recession," T. Rowe Price analyst Alan Levenson told the New York Times. "Employment is falling more slowly, wages are growing modestly, ...

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