Back-to-school | featured news

U.S. retailers are expected to post modest sales gains for September, on cautious back-to-school shopping and aggressive month-end promotions from department stores looking to clear inventory ahead of the all-important holiday shopping season.

Retailers are reporting surprisingly solid gains for August even as unusually hot weather and job worries kept a lid on back-to-school buying.

Shoppers spent slightly more last month than they had the year before, but sales were far short of 2008 levels, heralding what could be a disappointing holiday shopping season.

Half-priced jeans and promotional freebies are already popping up at the mall with the start of school still weeks away.