Weekly chain-store sales in U.S. powered ahead by almost 3.0 percent

The International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) and Goldman Sachs report that weekly chain-store sales in the United States surged almost 3.0 percent on the year for the week that ended February 23.

However, the organizations said that comparable-store sales were unchanged on a week-to-week basis.

"Consumers saw the snowiest third week of the fiscal-month of February in more than 22 years, according to Weather Trends International, for the South Central states and the second snowiest in the North Central states, which clearly tempered retail sales over the past week,” said Michael Niemira, ICSC's vice president of research and chief economist.

"Moreover, as the retail industry heads into the final fiscal week of February, spending is likely to be held back by the uncertainty surrounding the potential negative economic impacts from the federal government sequestration,” Niemira added.

ICSC Research forecasts a rise of 2.5-3 percent in comparable-store sales for February.