Labor Department said that the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits surged by 25,000 last week, the largest weekly jump in more than a year. The department attributed the increase, which lifted total claims to 350,000 for the week, on temporary auto industry layoffs.
The Conference Board reported Tuesday that its Consumer Confidence Index rose to 102.2 from a revised 97.5 in April. The reading was much better than the 96 analysts expected.
For Wal-Mart, losing top slot at the retail biz rested on reports of it posting a modest same-store sales gains of 2.5 percent as per Thomson Financial forecast.
Target Corp., its competitor attracting high-income consumer with its ttrendy appeal, asnnounced 5.1 percent increase in same-store sales, over the 4.5 percent analyst forecast.
Same store sales for Costco Wholesale Corp. went up 5 percent, beating 4.4 percent forecast.
For BJ's, a slim 0.5 percent gain in same-store sales sank way below the 2.8 percent forecast on account of "Cold, wet weather throughout the month negatively affected sales in more than half the chain," said BJ's President and CEO Mike Wedge.
Limited Brands Inc. posted 1 percent decrease in same-store sales, better than the 2.7 percent decline Wall Street expected.
Talbots Inc. reported a 4.1 percent gain in same-store sales, above 3.4 percent estimate.
For several teen retailers strong sales were driven by above 3.4 percent estimate.
marketing@alchempro.com
