Retailers: Best sales growth since March

Associated Press

NEW YORK

This summer, Americans were walking contradictions: They opened their wallets despite escalating fears about the slow economic recovery and surging gas prices.

A group of 18 retailers ranging from discounter Target to department-store chain Macy’s reported August sales Thursday that rose 6 percent — the industry’s best performance since March — according to trade group International Council of Shopping Centers. At the same time, the government released numbers showing that Americans spent in July at the fastest clip in five months.

The news appears to show that what Americans say and do are two different things: The reports come two days after a private research firm said consumer confidence in August fell to its lowest level since November 2011 as Americans grew more concerned about the job market, business conditions and the overall economy.

“This is bit of a head scratcher,” said Mark Vitner, a Wells Fargo Securities senior economist. “This runs counter to most of the other data related to the consumer.”

But Roxane Battle Morrison, 50, said there’s a logical explanation for the paradox. The Plymouth, Minn., resident said she is more worried about the economy, but she spent in August for one reason: She needed to help her 18-year-old son, Jared, get ready for college. So, Morrison, who produces videos for a nondenominational church, has stashed money away every month over the past year to save nearly $1,300 to buy him books, sheets, a futon bed and other dorm- room accessories.

“I was counting every nickel, looking at every price tag,” she said.

That consumers such as Morrison are spending is an encouraging sign, but that they are doing so hesitantly is something retailers and economists will be watching closely.