Retail sales rose 0.1 percent in April

May 14, 2014 at 12:00a.m.

WASHINGTON

U.S. retail sales growth slowed in April, with consumers shopping less online and cutting back on purchases of furniture and electronics.

The Commerce Department said Tuesday that seasonally adjusted retail sales rose just 0.1 percent last month, after surging 1.5 percent in March after a harsh winter that had curtailed shopping.

Several economists said the April figures might have been depressed because of seasonal adjustments connected to a later than usual Easter.

Still, the modest sales suggest that consumers may remain cautious during the still-slow economic recovery. Higher sales would help drive faster growth because consumers account for about 70 percent of the economy.

Flight cancellations set winter record

NEW YORK

It’s official: This winter was the worst for fliers in the 20 years that the government has been collecting data.

During the first three months of this year, U.S. airlines canceled 4.6 percent of its flights, the Department of Transportation announced Tuesday. The worst winter before this was 2001, when 4.4 percent of flights were scrapped.

Mother Nature is mostly to blame, with a relentless wave of snow and ice storms paralyzing airline traffic across the nation.

But airlines also are quicker to cancel flights these days, sometimes a day in advance of a storm. The shift in strategy came in response to new government regulations, improvements to overall operations and because canceling quickly reduces expenses.

Wire reports

Selected local stocks

STOCK, DIVIDENDCLOSECHANGE

Aqua America, .61, 24.93 —.13

Avalon Holdings,4.15—.03

Clear Channel, .61 23.45 .13

Cortland Bancorp, 12.24—.01

Farmers Nat., .127.51 —.07

First Energy, 2.20, 32.49—.44

FirstMerit Corp., .64,19.83 .02

First Niles Financial, .32,7.88.38

FNB Corp., .48,12.33—.24

General Motors,35.16.34

General Electric, .76,26.93.08

Huntington Bank, .20, 9.38—.04

JP Morgan Chase, 1.52,54.64—.02

Key Corp, .22,13.80—.06

LaFarge, 22.17 —.13

Macy’s, 1.00, 27.74.35

Parker Hannifin, 1.80, 126.05—.43

PNC, 1.76,84.78—.69

RTI Intl. Metals,25.40—.20

Simon Prop. Grp.,4.60,174.57—1.48

Stoneridge 10.13 —.20

Talmer Bank, 13.57—.06

United Community Fin. 3.35.00

Selected prices at 4 p.m. Tuesday. Provided by Stifel. Not to be construed as an offer or recommendation to buy or sell any security.