BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Retail spending in East Baton Rouge Parish was basically flat in January, rising less than a half-percent compared with that month a year ago.
The Advocate reports (http://bit.ly/16IT9hN ) the figures, released by the city-parish Finance Department on Tuesday, show spending by consumers and businesses was $603.4 million, up 0.3 percent compared to $601.4 million.
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Spending outside the city limits buoyed the total, rising by 4 percent as it fell by 3 percent inside the city limits.
Retail trade, which makes up 51 percent of the total, had a strong showing in January, rising 5 percent. Similarly, food services and drinking establishments, which is 11 percent of the total, rose 10 percent.
The weak spot was manufacturing, which is 11 percent of the total and fell 5 percent.
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Information from: The Advocate, http://theadvocate.com
