Moody's: Outlook positive for U.S. retail

Moody's Investors Service said it changed its industry sector outlook for the U.S. retail industry to positive from stable, reflecting the agency's belief that the overall credit conditions of the U.S. retail industry will materially improve over the next 12 to 18 months.

"We expect overall U.S. retail operating income to grow in the mid-single digits," Maggie Taylor, vice president and senior credit officer at Moody's, said in an agency statement. "We believe that this growth in operating income will be driven by increases in consumer spending and retail sales and not just from aggressive cost-saving programs."

That said, the agency noted that consumers continue to face high unemployment and personal debt levels along with low asset values and tight consumer credit. Moody's believes that the level of comparable-store sales growth will moderate over the near term and that sales growth will land at a lower -yet positive and more sustainable - level.

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