Upbeat: U.S. Consumer Spending Was Up More Than Forecast in February

Consumer spending in the U.S. rose more than forecast in February as incomes climbed, helping to bolster the expansion in the world’s largest economy. Purchases increased 0.7 percent, the most since October, after advancing 0.3 percent the prior month, Commerce Department figures show. The U.S. added jobs for the sixth consecutive month in February and the unemployment rate fell to the lowest level since April 2009, helping cushion Americans from higher food and fuel prices, Bloomberg.com reports. Spending is contributing to the recovery, which... 

Consumer Sentiment Fell in March as Gas Costs, Japan Tsunami Take a Toll

Consumer sentiment in the U.S. dropped more than forecast in March, affected both by higher gasoline costs and the results of Japan’s twin disaster of an earthquake and tsunami. The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan final index of consumer sentiment decreased to 67.5, the lowest level since November 2009, from 77.5 in February, the group reports. The median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News had projected a reading of 68. “Consumers are concerned about the rise in gasoline and food prices,” Ward McCarthy, chief financial... 

Relief for Merchants in Swipe-Fee Reform May Be Delayed for Two Years

The federal government’s swipe fee reform for debit card charges may be tabled for two years if a recently introduced Senate bill passes. This means a potential delay in financial relief for merchants who accept debit cards issued by Visa or MasterCard as a form of payment. The bipartisan Debit Interchange Fee Study Act ( S. 575) wants the U.S. Treasury to conduct a study to determine how debit interchange regulation will affect consumers and small financial institutions. The act calls for two-year delay on implementing swipe-card fee reform,... 

DMA Says Online Merchants are Likely To Stay in States’ Crosshairs

States struggling to close growing budget deficits are likely to take greater aim at online sales firms that do not collect sales taxes, an official with the Direct Marketing Association has said. “States have targeted this industry. Over the next 12 to 18 months, we will get a clearer definition of where the battle lines are drawn,” George Isaacson, tax counsel for the DMA, said during a policy conference sponsored by the group. The DMA has challenged a Colorado law that would require online retailers and catalog companies to turn over the... 

Report: Rising Food and Fuel Costs Pushed Consumer Prices Up in February

The cost of living in the U.S. climbed more than forecast in February, led by the highest food prices since 2008 and rising fuel costs. The consumer-price index increased 0.5 percent, the most since June 2009, figures from the Labor Department showed. Economists had projected a 0.4 percent gain, according to the median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey. Excluding volatile food and fuel costs, the so-called core gauge rose 0.2 percent for a second month, also more than estimated. Retailers are facing rising raw materials costs, which may erode... 

Battle Between States and Etailers Over Sales Tax Collection Heating Up

Most Americans probably aren’t aware, or choose to ignore, the sales tax owed to a state where they had their online purchases shipped, but the states have noticed, and are taking action. The money being left on the table is huge, with one estimate putting the number at $23 billion in uncollected taxes owed to the states by 2012. Since the start of the year, a number of states from California to Tennessee have introduced legislation to force out-of-state Internet retailers to collect sales tax from online shoppers. Illinois is the latest, with... 

Small Business Retailers Rally in DC for ‘Swipe-Fee’ Cuts

More than 100 small retailers rallied in front of the U.S. Capitol recently to ask Congress to protect billions of dollars in pending cuts in merchant “swipe fees” for debit cards. They said the proposed rollbacks in interchange fees, which they won as part of financial reform legislation, will allow them to retain more profits they can use to reinvest in their businesses and create jobs, or will give them savings they can pass along to consumers through lower product prices. “In my business, the swipe fee folks, the interchange folks, the... 

Retail Jobs Threatened as Self-Service Grows in Importance

Automation, long a force in agriculture and manufacturing, is accelerating in the retail sector, a trend that could hamper efforts to bring down the nation’s stubbornly high jobless rate. In an industry that employs nearly 1 in 10 Americans and has long been a reliable job generator, companies increasingly are looking to peddle more products with fewer employees., the LA Times reports. Shipping and warehousing workers are being replaced by robots that can process packages more efficiently than humans. Virtual assistants are taking the place... 

Economic Recovery, Cotton Costs Have Some Retailers Mulling Price Increases

The era of cheap jeans may be ending as U.S. apparel retailers take advantage of the economic recovery to boost prices on some products for the first time in more than a decade. The increases may contribute to a slowing in consumer spending, while not fully offsetting record cotton costs, higher wages in China and rising freight charges that are squeezing margins. “For all retailers and all wholesalers, we’re flying into unknown territory, because we haven’t seen price increases, we’ve actually seen price decreases, in the past 10 to 15... 

Citing a Boost in Business, Retailers Push for a School-Supply Tax Holiday

Florida retailers hope a new economic study will spur the state into making a back-to-school sales tax holiday an annual staple. A recently released Florida Retail Federation study said last year’s three-day holiday increased sales so much that the state actually collected more in taxes. That’s proof that Florida should enact the holiday again this year and every year after that, the trade group’s president and chief executive officer said. No decision has yet been made for holding a tax holiday this year “This report proves, finally, to... 

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