BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS, DAILY REPORT, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2002: U.S. chain store sales rose in the week that ended Saturday, a possible sign that the economy is edging its way out of recession, according to two reports out Tuesday. U.S. chain store sales rose 2.1 percent during the week ended Feb. 9, after a 0.7 percent drop the prior week, the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi and UBS Warburg reported in their Weekly Chain Store Sales Snapshot. And Instinet Research's Redbook Retail Sales Average rose 0.9 percent in the week ended February 9 compared with the same period last month (Reuters, http://www.usatoday.com/money/retail/2002-02-12-retail-sales.htm).
Laid-off employees are finding that they may not be able to get unemployment benefits because they've taken early retirement or severance payments, writes Stephanie Armour in USA Today (page 1B). It can be an unexpected blow to many of the 8.3 million Americans now unemployed. "You can have your benefits reduced or be disqualified if you get money from early retirement. You can't double dip," says Jeffrey Wenger, an economist at the Economic Policy Institute, a nonprofit think tank in Washington. DUE OUT TOMORROW: Extended Mass Layoffs in Fourth Quarter 2001
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