Replies to post #299008 on $Stock*Shop*Charts*News*Option$

[Stock Lobster]

UK Reocvery? City shocked by weak Christmas retail sales

Gillian Bevis, This is Money
22 January 2010, 10:34am
Reader comments (8)

Retail sales over the Christmas period were much less than expected, despite a host of positive updates from major retailers, it was revealed today.

Sales volumes grew by just 0.3% in December, well below the 1.1% growth expected by City analysts. Year-on-year sales volumes were up 2.1% - the lowest annual growth for a December since 1998.
But retail sales values were up 3.6% year-on-year - the second highest for the month since 2001.

The Office of National Statistics figures were met with disappointment from economists who had been expecting strong growth following upbeat results from High Street heavyweights such as Morrisons, John Lewis, Argos and Homebase owner Home Retail, and Tesco.
>>Read more

James Knightley of ING Financial Markets said: 'The December UK retail sales report has provided a major shock this morning by growing at a very modest 0.3% month-on-month rate versus market expectations of a 1.1% gain.

'The re-introduction of the 17.5% VAT rate was widely expected to have boosted demand for big ticket items ahead of time, but this does not seem to be borne out of the data. Prices rose at their fastest rate since March, but even so this real sales growth figure is very disappointing.'

Knightley added today's poor results could affect next week's fourth quarter GDP growth figure. 'The market had been looking for a 0.4% quarter-on-quarter rise, but it could come in closer to 0.3%,' he said.

Many retailers were forced to cut prices before Christmas in 2008 to draw in consumers struggling in the recession, but there was less evidence of discounting this time around, with the worst of the slump all but over.

Instead retailers put up their prices at their fastest rate in nine months in December, by 1.2% compared with the same month a year ago, with the weaker pound pulling up import prices.

The ONS said sales volumes at department stores fell 1% on the month, but non-store sales, which include mail order, rose by 2.8% in December.

Many British retailers, such as supermarkets Tesco and Sainsbury's and electricals retailer Kesa beat their sales forecasts over the Christmas trading period, possibly helped by consumers bringing forward spending before the reversal of the temporary cut in value added tax at the end of December.

Today, John Lewis posted a share rise in sales - rising 11.1% to £53.6m - in the week to 16 January, compared with the same week last year. Waitrose sales were up 16.6% in the same period.


The ONS today said the biggest increase in sales volumes in December came among clothing and footwear stores, up 4.7% year on year due to Christmas shopping and the much colder weather. Non-specialised retailers - such as department stores - increased volumes by 1.5% while sales volumes in food stores were 2.8% ahead of a year earlier.

Vicky Redwood of Capital Economics said: 'December's modest rise in UK retail sales is disappointing given the far more upbeat tone of the surveys and trading updates.

'In fact, the 0.3% monthly rise meant that sales in Q4 as a whole rose by less than in Q3 - indicating that if the economy came out of recession at the end of last year, it wasn't due to the retail sector.'

Redwood added that consumers can't be relied on to drive a strong economic recovery.

• Read more: December retail sales: What the economists say

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=497972

[Tuff-Stuff]

>Unemployment Insurance Program Changes by State in 2010
by Olga Pierce and Jeff Larson, ProPublica

Due to record high unemployment claims and in many cases poor financial planning, 25 states have run out of funds and been forced to borrow from the federal government, raise taxes or cut benefits. Increasingly, those fiscal woes are landing at the doorstep of business owners and unemployed workers. Employers in 36 states face unemployment insurance tax increases ranging from a few dollars to nearly $1,000 per worker for 2010, and six states have taken steps to cut back or freeze benefits.

(INTERESTING to look at the differences state by state!



http://projects.propublica.org/tables/unemployment-tax-increases-by-state-2010