Retail sales forecast to rise 3.8%-4.4%
Retail sales are expected to grow between 3.8 percent and 4.4 percent in 2018, according to a forecast from the National Retail Federation.
The retail trade group cited strong Christmas sales, low unemployment and changes to the federal tax structure among the barometers pointing to continued consumer confidence.
The federation's projection comes after retail sales grew 3.9 percent to $3.5 trillion in 2017, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's preliminary estimate. The number remains subject to revision, but exceeded the retail federation's forecast of 3.2 percent to 3.8 percent. Christmas sales alone increased 5.5 percent, which was the largest growth since 2010.
"With consumer confidence high, unemployment low and wages growing, there is every reason to believe that retail sales will be robust throughout the year," said Matthew Shay, the federation's president.
Walmart Inc. told investors in October that it projects net sales for fiscal 2019 to increase about 3 percent, which includes an estimated 40 percent growth in U.S. e-commerce sales. The retailer will report on Feb. 20 its fourth-quarter and full-year earnings for fiscal 2018, which ended Jan. 31.
-- Robbie Neiswanger
Bank of Ozarks loan aids airport complex
Little Rock's Bank of the Ozarks provided funding for a 1.4 million-square-foot, five-building industrial park planned within the boundary of the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, the The Dallas Morning News reported this week.
Neither the bank nor the developers disclosed the amount of the loan.
Contractors have already begun construction on the 86-acre development at the south end of the airport. The industrial park is part of the airport's Passport Park, a mixed-use development on Texas 183, the Dallas paper reported.
Bank of the Ozarks has more than $606 million of real estate loans in the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area, according to the bank's third-quarter filing.
-- David Smith
State index up 3.03 as 13 stocks climb
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, rose 3.03 to 398.71 Friday.
Thirteen stocks advanced and five declined.
Acxiom gained 2.9 percent in heavy trading while ArcBest fell 1.5 percent.
Total volume for the index on Friday was 35.4 million shares. The average volume for the week was 31.7 million shares.
The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.
Business on 02/10/2018