U.S. Retail Sales Up 1.2 Percent in April

"More than one-third of the retailers reporting posted gains in April on top of March's gains," says Frank Badillo, senior economist at Retail Forward. "These results provide some signs of the pickup in spending that shoppers are sustaining despite the Easter calendar shift."

Among the biggest gains: Neiman Marcus (10.9 percent), Nordstrom (7.5 percent), Limited Brands (4 percent), Saks (3.2 percent), Ross Stores (3 percent) and Macy's (1.1 percent).

Among the biggest declines: Hot Topic (-12.5 percent), Stage Stores (-8.3 percent), Duckwall-Alco (-8 percent), Kohl's (-7.7 percent), Target (-5.9 percent), Buckle (-5.7 percent), Bon-Ton Stores (-5 percent) and Dillard's (-5 percent).

For a list of the retailers reporting and their results,

click here

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