Retailers say sales slowed in September

Americans slowed down their spending in September as they took a pause from August’s back-to-school buying, according to monthly reports from major retailers released Thursday. Sales at stores open at least a year crawled up by less than 1 percent from September 2011, according to the 19 retailers tracked by Thomson Reuters – just half of the increase that analysts had expected. Large retailers like Target, Kohl’s, Nordstrom and Macy’s also missed analyst expectations, while merchants such as Limited Brands and Costco posted gains that beat Wall Street estimates.