Better-Than-Expected Same-Store Sales Spur Some Retailers To Boost Outlooks and Small Firms' Doubts About Outlook Raise Red Flag For Jobs

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Retailers enjoyed a post-holiday lift in January, reporting same-store sales Thursday that topped views as shoppers hit the malls to freshen their wardrobes and redeem gift cards.

Overall January sales at stores open at least a year grew 3.3% vs. January 2009, said Ken Perkins, president of Retail Metrics. That easily beat Wall Street's forecast of a 2.4% rise. It was the biggest monthly gain since April 2008. A hefty 73% of retailers beat views.

The strength was across all retail segments. Teen, department stores and specialty apparel all beat or met views.

"It was a nice beat," Perkins said. [Read the full article]

Companies with fewer than 500 employees have generated 64% of all new jobs the past 15 years, according to the Small Business Administration.

They hold the key to jump-starting the job market and bringing down joblessness, currently at a near 26-year high of 10%.

Tight credit, weak sales and worries that government policies could increase costs have put small businesses in a sour mood. The National Federation of Independent Business' small business optimism index fell to a five-month low in December.

"I'm not expecting to see small business confidence pick up anytime soon," said Mark Vitner, an economist at Wells Fargo Securities. "I think that we have to remove some of the uncertainty that's present in the economy before we see hiring pick up."

Businesses that cater to hard-hit U.S. consumers have suffered the most since the downturn began in December 2007. [Read the full article]

Stock futures improved after the jobs report, turning what looked like another bad open to a mixed start.

As expected, benchmark revisions showed job losses were much worse during the recession than previously estimated. The economy has lost 8.4 million jobs since the start of the slump. The prior estimate was 7.2 million jobs.

Unemployment was a big surprise. The jobless rate is based on the separate household employment survey. That survey showed a huge gain of 541,000 jobs last month, the best in nearly five years.

Household employment tends to be more volatile than payrolls, but it often starts showing an increase first.

Still, most economists expect the unemployment rate to stay high or head higher in 2010 as generally tepid hiring struggles to offset to return of discouraged workers.

Within the payrolls report, services-related jobs rose by 40,000, fueled by retailer. Manufacturing employment rose by 11,000, the first gain in three years. [Read the full article]

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