NEW YORK – Americans gave retailers a respectable spring selling season, resulting in a slew of stores raising their earnings outlooks.

Though April shopping fell off from March’s blistering pace, the full spring picture shows consumers more willing to buy higher-priced merchandise and pay full price. Those are encouraging signs for the economy, but the path to recovery is still expected to be rocky.

Thursday’s drop of nearly 1,000 points before the stock market recovered two-thirds of its losses could rattle consumers just as they are starting to see their confidence increase.

Overall revenue at stores open at least a year rose 0.8 percent in April, compared with a 2.7 percent decline a year ago, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers Index of 30 retailers. That followed a 9 percent gain in March, the largest percentage gain since March 1999.

As merchants released April figures Thursday, wholesale club operators including Costco Wholesale Corp. and BJ’s Wholesale Club Inc. as well as luxury retailers like Nordstrom Inc. emerged as the biggest winners. Limited Brands Inc. and Macy’s Inc. also had solid gains. Teen merchants including American Eagle Outfitters Inc. and Abercrombie & Fitch Co. struggled with declines.

The figures are considered a key indicator of a retailer’s health because they exclude growth at stores that open or close during the year. The index excludes Walmart Stores Inc., the world’s largest retailer, which stopped reporting monthly results last year.

After a spending spree in March, “April is the pause that refreshes,” said Lazard Capital Markets analyst Todd Slater. “The consumer is out of hibernation. She is no longer shopping in her closet.”

Still, Slater and others believe the recovery will continue to be tentative as long as high unemployment persists.

Analysts had expected an April slowdown because an early Easter had pumped up sales in March by as much as 5 percentage points. But the results came in weaker than expected, with many retailers missing Wall Street estimates, according to Thomson Reuters. For most retailers, the reporting period spanned four weeks ended May 1.

Analysts say they’re not interpreting the slowdown as a sign the recovery is off track. They typically study combined March and April receipts to get a better gauge of spending for spring, which turned out to be strong.

Cooler weather last month also played a role in hurting sales of seasonal goods. The return of warmer weather this month is already helping improve sales at TJX Cos.

“The real takeaway is that profitability continued to improve on the healthy underlying demand,” said Michael P. Niemira, chief economist at ICSC. Still, he doesn’t expect the spring season’s pace to be sustained because March was such an anomaly.

April ended what’s expected to be a decent first quarter for many retailers including Target Corp., JC Penney Co. and Macy’s Inc., which all raised their earnings outlooks amid less discounting because shoppers were buying full-priced merchandise. Slater noted that shoppers were interested in all kinds of fashion, including leggings in denim and knit tops. The results will be seen more clearly in first-quarter earnings reports to be released starting next week.

While they’re spending more, consumers are still cautious. So retailers including Coach Inc. are carefully weighing raising prices later this year.

Target suffered a 5.9 percent drop in April, but for the combined March and April period that figure was up 3.0 percent, its strongest performance in two years.

Target offered an upbeat earnings outlook because sales in high-profit categories such as women’s clothing and home furnishings remained strong.

Among department stores, Macy’s results were up 1.1 percent. For March and April combined, Macy’s enjoyed a 6.2 percent gain and said fresh goods are being well received by shoppers.

Luxury retailer Saks Inc. posted a modest gain but discounted less than a year ago. Upscale Nordstrom Inc. enjoyed a 7.5 percent increase.

Teen retailers continue to suffer, reporting drops in April as young consumers keep cutting back their spending.

“Parents don’t have the money to support their spending habits,” said Laura Gurski, partner and leader of the North American consumer and retail practice at A.T. Kearney.

 

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