Back-to-school shoppers drive sales

The International Council of Shopping Centers said sales-tax holidays in 11 states and back-to-school promotions spurred consumers to spend in July, probably resulting in a 2-3 percent jump in US retail sales for the month. (Paul Sakuma/associated press)

NEW YORK - Back-to-school shopping boosted US weekly retail sales the most since Dec. as 11 states suspended their sales tax.

Sales at stores open at least a year advanced 2.9 percent last week compared with a year earlier, the International Council of Shopping Centers said yesterday. For the month of July, they probably climbed 2 to 3 percent, the New York-based industry group said.

US shoppers are facing high gas prices, seven months of job losses, and the highest consumer inflation in almost three years. Many retailers schedule back-to-school sales around sales-tax suspensions, helping spur sales of books and clothing. Alabama, Georgia, Iowa, Louisiana, Missouri, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia suspended their back-to-school sales tax, while Florida canceled its tax holiday this year because of state budget concerns. Massachusetts will suspend its sales tax on most items Aug. 16-17.

"Customer traffic moderated a tad nationally, but was lifted in 11 states and the District of Columbia that began their back-to-school sales tax holidays," Michael Niemira, the ICSC's chief economist, said in the statement.

The Johnson Redbook index, another measure of retail performance, showed a 3.5 percent gain last week compared with a year earlier. The report for the week ended Aug. 2 measures sales at about 9,000 stores, while the ICSC tracks about 40 retail chains.

August and September are more important back-to-school shopping months than July, said Howard Tubin, a retail analyst at RBC Capital Markets in New York.

Many US retailers will report July sales tomorrow.

Comparable-store sales are considered by some investors to be the best measure of results because they exclude the effect of location openings and closings in the past year.