Economy: March 16, 2001
February was a difficult month for retailers, with GAF (general merchandise, apparel and home furnishings) sales up a mere 0.6 percent on a year-to-year basis, the smallest increase since March 1992, according to the National Retail Federation, which cited bad weather and the slowing economy as the reasons ... Even though the sales data that will determine if March is a retail lion or a lamb won’t be available before the second week of April, there are a few encouraging early signs, among them the 135,000 new jobs that were created in February, more than predicted, the low 4.2 percent unemployment rate in February and the 4.1 percent year-to-year increase in average hourly wages for that month; also, the Federal Reserve is widely expected to lower interest rates by another half point at its next rate-setting meeting, and that’s just the kind of stimulation that could encourage worried consumers to return to malls and department stores over the next weeks and months; still tugging downward on the economy, however, are high inventories, increasing layoffs, the swooning stock market and falling consumer confidence ... Giant Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart provided its own economic stimulation with last week’s opening of 33 stores in 22 states, which will create more than 14,200 new jobs, according to the company; overall this fiscal year, Wal-Mart plans to open domestically about 40 new discount stores, between 170 and 180 Supercenters, between 15 and 20 neighborhood markets and between 40 and 50 Sam’s Clubs.
