U.S. Retail-Sales Growth Accelerated to 4.2% Last Week

Same-store sales at a selection of U.S. retailers posted last week the biggest jump of this holiday season, rising 4.2 percent as more consumers finished shopping, according to a survey of retailers.

Almost 74 percent of shoppers completed gift buying in the week ended Dec. 18, spurring faster sales growth than the previous three weeks. That compared with 56.6 percent a week earlier, according to a chain-store sales index released today by New York-based International Council of Shopping Centers and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. The 4.2 percent gain compared to a year earlier.