U.S. retail sales are on track to rise 2.5 percent this year despite lingering unemployment and concerns about the global economy, the head of the nation’s premiere retail trade group said Monday.
In January, the National Retail Federation forecast a 2.5 percent rise for 2010, as the industry comes out of its worst slump in decades. Speaking at the Reuters Consumer and Retail Summit in New York, NRF Chief Executive Matthew Shay affirmed  forecast.

“Based on what we saw in the first four or five months of the year, I think we’re right on track,” said Shay, who has been in the job for five months. “We feel confident that 2.5 percent is the right number.”