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Wednesday, 18th January 2006 (5790 views)

American jewellery stores will see strong sales during 2006, according to figures from the National Retail Federation (NRF).

The industry body estimates that clothing and accessory outlets – in which it counts jewellery outlets – will see growth of four to five per cent on figures in 2005.

However, its predictions for the rest of US retail were slightly subdued, suggesting that a slowdown in house prices and the rising cost of fuel and energy are grasping at America's purse strings. Overall, it expects retail growth of 4.5 per cent in 2006.

NRF chief economist Rosalind Wells said: "With the housing market beginning to slow, consumers will be challenged to find new sources of spending power."

"The strong retail sales we saw in the second half of 2005 will be replaced by more conservative spending in the New Year."

Whilst Americans' spending boosted performance in the sector by 6.5 per cent in the last three months of 2005, the NRF suggests that the first quarter of 2006 will see growth of only five per cent.

It added that retail growth reached a high of 6.1 per cent last year, over and above the 5.6 per cent it had predicted.

 

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