Wal-Mart sales up in March; Spending nationwide, jobless claims dips

Always a leading indicator of consumer shopping strength, Wal-Mart U.S. sales during March were $23.75 billion, up 2.6% over March 2008. Sales at the company’s Sam’s Club stores totaled $4.38 billion in March, up 2.2% over March 2008.

“The combined 3.1% comp for Walmart U.S. and Sam’s Club we reported for the past nine weeks shows the strength of our underlying operations,” Tom Schoewe, executive vice president and chief financial officer, noted in a company statement. “We expect total U.S. comps for the 13 weeks through May 1 to be around the high end of our previously forecasted range of one to three percent.”

The company’s same-store sales in March were up 1.4%, down from Wall Street expectations of 3.2%. Wal-Mart said the later Easter cycle pushed the March sales lower, but expects an April gain from the shift.

NATIONWIDE SPENDING
Consumer spending patterns continued to decline in March, but market watchers said the declines were not as deep as previous months. A preliminary report from the International Council of Shopping Centers shows that same-store sales nationwide fell 2.1% in March. ICSC Economist Michael Niemira said the dip includes an estimated 3% loss related to the later Easter and calendar shift, meaning the April sales figures could be stronger.

JOBLESS CLAIMS
The federal Labor Department reported Thursday that initial jobless claims fell to a seasonally adjusted 654,000, down from the 674,000 previously reported. However, the number of Americans receiving unemployment benefits increased to 5.84 million from the 5.75 million reported in the previous week.