Retail Industry Projects Solid, But Not Stellar Year Ahead

The National Retail Federation said Wednesday that it expects a year of healthy though hardly stellar growth for the industry in 2016, releasing a forecast that sales will rise about 3.1 percent. The trade group said retailers should finally start to see a bump in sales thanks to lower gas prices. Retailers first started talking about a potential boost from the falling price of oil in late 2014, but so far, there hasn’t been much evidence of an increase.