ECONOMY

Retail Sales Rebound Slightly: The merely modest gain last month, following the sharpest drop in more than a year, points to slower economic growth, analysts said. The Commerce Department said retail sales rose just 0.2% in March after declining a full 1% in February. The February figure previously had been reported as a 0.4% decrease. Analysts said they expect the trend toward reduced growth to continue. They are guessing that seven increases in interest rates engineered by the Federal Reserve Board since February, 1994, have not yet had their full impact. The most recent boost, of half a percentage point, occurred Feb. 1.