The ICSC-UBS/Goldman retail chain same-store sales is a useful weekly indicator of general merchandise spending which accounts for roughly 10% of the US retail market. Because it is a weekly data point, this series can look noisy. To help trends stand out more, we like to look at the one-quarter moving average of the year-over-year change. As you can see in the chart below, same-store retail sales have been gaining steam since early April. The one-quarter moving average of the year-over-year change is just below 4% and is at it's highest level since 9/16/2005.