Customer Growth Partners projects 5.1% retail growth in 2011

New Canaan, Conn. -- The retail industry will grow by 5.1% in 2011, the strongest growth in four years, according to Customer Growth Partners’ 2011 Forecast and Outlook. The New Canaan, Conn.-based consulting and research firm projects that the industry will create over half a million new jobs in 2010, the most of any employment sector, and that retail sales will reach a record level of almost $2.9 trillion. CGP’s forecast uses an econometric model with variables such as personal income growth, savings rates, employment data, household wealth and credit data, inflation rates and energy prices; and on CGP’s