Consumers opening wallets; can employers be far behind?

It appears that American consumers have shed enough debt that they are ready to spend a little again. Retailers posting first-quarter sales figures to date have posted encouraging figures for same-store sales, in most cases beating analysts' expectations, and sometimes their own as well. (Same-store sales, also known as "comparable-store sales" or "comps," are sales at locations in business at least a year; these figures are regarded as the truest indicator of retail stores' performance.) While same-store sales gains on the whole are below last year's increases, they are overwhelmingly better than retail analysts have forecast and provide further evidence of recovery taking hold in the economy.

While discount stores turned in the best overall performance on Thomson Reuters' March Same Store Sales Review, posting a 3.9 percent rise in same-store sales, retailers whose fates depend more on discretionary spending turned in strong performances as well. Teen apparel retailers as a group posted a 3.3 percent same-store sales gain, the biggest positive surprise over analysts' estimates, and luxury department stores Saks and Nordstrom also performed well: Saks' 11.1 percent same-store sales gain was the third best among all retailers, and Nordstrom posted a very strong 5.1 percent gain, making the companies standouts in the department store sector, which turned in an overall same-store sales drop of -0.5 percent - still better than analysts' estimates.

What this suggests is that American consumers' fortunes and moods are rising along with the employment figures, which have finally shown some serious forward momentum in the last month or so. With Easter just around the corner, we can hope that these figures will be a harbinger of rising spring employment in the retail sector as well.

By Sandy Smith Sandy Smith is a veteran freelance writer, editor and public relations professional who lives in Philadelphia. Besides blogging for RetailGigs.com, he has written for numerous publications and websites, would be happy to do your resume, and is himself actively seeking career opportunities on Nexxt. Check out his LinkedIn profile and read his other posts on RetailGigsBlog.com.