Chain-store sales in the United States rose for the fifth straight week in the last week of July, according to a survey by the International Council of Shopping Centers and UBS.

Consumers, spurred on by hot weather, continued to purchase seasonal products. Back-to-school buying also helped the gain in sales, although sales in this category were off to a slow start due to the weather. According to the report, sales were up 0.9 percent in the week ending July 30, the strongest result since April 16, when sales grew by 1.0 percent. Compared to the same week last year, sales were up 4.9 percent for the week.

Sales had risen 0.4 percent the week ending July 23 this year; they were up 4.2 percent compared to the same week last year. The Weekly Chain Store Snapshot takes its data from weekly sales results issued by a group of major department, discount, and chain stores.

Retail sales figures released on Thursday show that buying has not slowed down even as higher gasoline prices are having some impact on shoppers’ habits. Sales increased in April across the board, from luxury retailers to discount stores. Luxury retailer Neiman Marcus saw its sales in its 37 stores increase by 12.5 percent. Department stores such as JC Penney, Federated, and Nordstrom all reported better than expected sales in stores that had been open for over a year, and all of these department stores increased their forecasts for first-quarter earnings. The impact that higher gas prices are having on shoppers’ habits - what they are buying and how many shopping trips they are taking - was revealed in data released by Wal-Mart, the largest retailer in the United States. Wal-Mart figures showed that their customers are not coming to their stores as often, but they are buying more when they do go shopping. The data also showed that Wal-Mart customers are buying more food than general merchandise. Overall, Wal-Mart’ sales increased 0.9 percent in April, with Sam’s Club stores showing a 4.9 percent increase and an 0.1 percent increase at Wal-Mart stores.

The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) reported that growth in the US industrial production sector was slowing, but remains strong overall.

On it's index it reported a slight fall to 55.3 from 56.4 in January, with growth still strong in 13 of 20 monitored areas.

Although the markets had expected a higher index figure, overall growth remains strong, and prior issues such as material availabiliy and price competitiveness were becoming less of a problem than before.

The U.S. Department of Commerce has announced that growth in personal income for December was mostly accounted for by a large dividend paid out to Microsoft stocholders.

Microsoft made a one-time exceptional dividend payment of $32 billion, pushing an an otherwise growth rate of 0.6% for December to 3.7% for the month.

The pay-out was also credited with a specific 0.8% rise in consumer spending towards Christmas.

Microsoft has some of the most widely held stocks of any company, and analysts predict that much of the dividend will be used to purchase additional stocks on the market - especially from Microsoft.