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Holiday sales off
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December 18, 2001: 9:39 a.m. ET
Traffic improves modestly as shopping days dwindle, but sales down - reports.
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NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Holiday sales remained sluggish heading into the home stretch, as consumers continued to hold off until the last minute, according to two reports Tuesday.
The Redbook Retail Sales Average plunged 4.6 percent for the first two weeks of December, according to Instinet Research, which publishes the report.
Retailers reported lethargic sales and low volume, with both department and discount stores reporting lower sales growth than in the first week of December, the report said.
Still, many retailers' results were close to plan in the latest week, and "sales growth is expected to be the strongest in the next two weeks as consumers continue to delay purchases close to Christmas," the report said.
Meanwhile, the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi and UBS Warburg said Tuesday that sales were off 0.5 percent for the week ending Dec. 15 compared with the previous week.
BTM said holiday mall traffic has improved from recent weeks as the number of holiday shopping days dwindles. Nevertheless, the report projects total December sales to post flat to just a 1 percent increase over the year-ago period.
The reports come a day after TeleCheck, which tracks sales at the cash register, reported a modest 1.8 percent sales increase for the period between Nov. 23 and Dec. 16.
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Retail sales have been under pressure all year as consumers turned cautious in the face of an economic slowdown started by the burst technology bubble and the ensuing recession following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon.
The Federal Reserve has lowered interest rates 11 times this year in hopes of bolstering Americans' confidence, which is crucial since consumer spending accounts for two-thirds of the nation's economy. 
Reuters contributed to this report
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