U.S. retail chains' same-store sales rose 0.6% in the week ended Oct. 1 compared to the prior week, data from the International Council of Shopping Centers show. Compared to the final week of September 2004, sales were 3.0% higher. Mike Niemira, ICSC's chief economist, foresees September sales rising by "3.0% or slightly over" compared to last year. Week-to-week sales rebounded over the course of the month, even as consumers contended with the hottest weather in over a century as well as sharply higher gasoline prices and fallout from a pair of Gulf Coast hurricanes.