Helped by last-minute holiday shoppers, weekly retail sales post gain

Retailers received some holiday cheer last week from last-minute holiday shoppers.

For the week ending Dec. 26, retail sales rose 0.4% from the week before and 2.3% year-over-year, the International Council of Shopping Centers said today.

?The pre-Christmas sales wrap-up was strong as consumers hurried to finish off their gift buying, which was hampered by the super-sized storm during the prior week in the Southeast and Northeast and by a slower holiday gift completion rate than last year,? said Michael Niemira, chief economist of the shopping center group. ?As such, consumers were out in force to finish shopping.?

Niemira said preliminary numbers indicate that sales are on track to finish up about 2% for the month of December.

Results are based on sales at stores open at least a year, known as same-store sales. Major chain stores will report December sales figures next week.

--Andrea Chang

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