The U.S. retail industry surged 6% in April, the largest increase in two years. Mother's Day may reach a new high

> The U.S. retail industry surged by 6% in April, the largest increase in two years Mother's Day may reach a new high U.S. retail same-store sales surged by 6% in April, as the weather improves,...

The U.S. retail industry surged by 6% in April, the largest increase in two years, and Mother's Day may reach a new high. Same-store sales in the U.S. retail industry surged by 6% in April. As the weather improved, Easter was postponed, and aggressive promotions attracted shopping customers, the performance showed the largest growth since September 2011. The revenue growth rate of stores open for at least one year easily beat the average analyst forecast of 3.9% released by research firm Retail Metrics Inc. today. The combined revenue in March and April increased by 4.8% year-on-year. Retail Metrics pointed out that the state of the retail industry may not be completely clear yet. Positive results will have to extend into May to confirm the trend, and discounts as deep as 50% could hurt retail earnings in the first quarter. Ken Perkins, president of Retail Metrics, said in a press release today: "We must continue our efforts and achieve excellent May performance with solid Mother's Day and Memorial Day weekend results before we can be more confident that consumers have returned." ?/DIV> Cato Corp. led the pack with growth of 18%. The women's clothing retailer revised its first-quarter profit forecast to $1.05 a share, up from its original estimate of as much as 95 cents a share. Cato shares surged 4.2% to $28.87. L Brands Inc., which owns Victoria’s Secret, and Zumiez Inc., a chain of teen clothing stores, saw revenue grow 8% and 8.2% respectively. Costco Wholesale Corp.'s revenue rose 5%. Limited Brands shares rose 4.9% to $56.01. Zumiez rose 13% to $28.