Chain Store Sales Increase Slightly

U.S. chain store sales inched higher in the latest week as post-Thanksgiving sales lured bargain-hunting consumers to stores, the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi and UBS Warburg said.

U.S. chain store sales rose 0.9% during the week ended Nov. 24, after a 0.5% decline one week earlier, the companies reported.

Compared with last year’s Thanksgiving sales, the index rose 2.2%, weaker than the prior week’s year-over-year gain of 2.4%, and well below the 3.3% rate of growth seen the week before the Sept. 11 attacks.