As retailers reported their monthly figures today, the weakness appeared to cut across all sectors, particularly apparel sellers. Among the biggest disappointments so far were teen merchant Wet Seal Inc., the Children's Place Retail Stores Inc. and Limited Brands Inc., which owns Victoria's Secret.

In the Philadelphia region, Destination Maternity and Bon-Ton Stores also cited the weather as they reported that their June sales were down.

Even low-priced operator Costco Wholesale Corp. struggled with a same-store sales decline compared with a year ago, when business was helped by stimulus rebate checks.

Same-store sales - sales at stores open at least a year - are considered a key indicator of a retailer's health.

"Consumers are under severe pressure on the job front, so discretionary spending is just not happening, "said Ken Perkins, president of retail consulting firm Retail Metrics LLC.

"This is not setting up well for the back-to-school season."

Rainy weather across a broad swath of the country was a factor in depressing sales of seasonal goods last month. But shoppers clearly are being discouraged by financial worries.

The latest jobs report from the government, which showed shrinking wages and higher-than-expected job losses last month, is increasing concerns about consumers' ability to spend in the months ahead.

Merchants are relying more now on shoppers' paychecks to fuel purchases because consumers' two other key sources of funding - credit cards and home equity loans - have shrunk. But, seeing their earnings dwindle, shoppers are continuing to seek 70 percent discounts.

Job worries caused consumer confidence, as measured by the nonprofit Conference Board, to drop in June, reversing a three-month upward trend fueled by a stock market rally that also is fizzling.

Costco said Thursday that its June same-store sales dropped 6 percent but managed to meet Wall Street's expectations.

Many mall-based apparel merchants fared worse.

Limited Brands struggled with a 12 percent drop in same-store sales last month; analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters had expected a 7.9 percent decline.

Wet Seal posted an 11.1 percent drop in June, worse than the 9.1 percent decline that Thomson Reuters had expected.

The Children's Place reported a 12 percent same-store sales decline in June; analysts had expected an 8.7 percent decline.

Destination Maternity

Excluding the calendar shift, same-store sales dropped 10.1 percent for the month. There was one less Sunday and one more Tuesday than the prior-year period.

The Philadelphia-based maternity apparel retailer also said its monthly sales were hindered by a weak retail environment, difficult year-ago comparisons and less opportunity for promotions due to lower inventory levels.

Total monthly sales declined 10 percent to $41.3 million from $45.9 million.

For the third quarter, same-store sales dropped 5.5 percent while total sales slipped 6.4 percent to $142.5 million.

Destination Maternity said its total sales decline mostly stemmed from the same-store sales dropoff and the closing of its remaining leased departments within Sears stores. The company announced last month that it will relaunch Two Hearts Maternity leased departments at more than 500 Sears stores and will introduce Two Hearts Maternity leased departments at 100 Kmart stores in October.

Destination Maternity ran 730 stores, 357 leased department locations and 1,087 total retail locations as of the end of June. It opened one store and close one store during the month.

Shares were prices at $17.21, up 50 cents (2.99 percent), early this afternoon in Nasdaq trading. They have been priced at $4.42 to $18.13 over the last 52 weeks.

Bon-Ton Stores

"Although June sales started off strong and met plan for the month, the unusually cooler and rainy weather impacted sales of our summer merchandise across all apparel categories," said Tony Buccina, vice chairman and president of merchandising for the York, Pa.-based chain

For the five weeks ended July 4, total sales fell 7.5 percent to $241.5 million.

Year to date, same-store sales tumbled 9.1 percent, while total sales for the period lost 8.6 percent to $1.08 billion.

Company shares were priced at $2.50, down 17 cents (6.37 percent), early this afternoon in Nasdaq trading. Shares have been priced from 76 cents to $6.28 in the last 52 weeks.

Rite Aid

Total sales for the four weeks ended June 27 fell 2.5 percent to $1.97 billion.

Front-end sales, which includes items like cosmetics and food, fell 4.5 percent last month. Pharmacy-store sales increased 1.4 percent, despite new generic introductions, it said.

Two weeks ago, the Camp Hill, Pa.-based drugstore operator refinanced most of its debt that was set to expire in September 2010.

Rite Aid had a $145 million loan and $1.75 billion credit facility maturing in September 2010. After the refinancing, its only significant debts due before 2012 are its borrowings under its accounts receivable securitization programs. Those borrowings are due in September.

Rite Aid bought 1,850 Brooks Eckerd stores in June 2007 for $2.36 billion, but sales at those stores have been weaker than at its older stores. Same-store sales at the Brooks Eckerd stores fell 1.8 percent. Front-end same-store sales fell 5 percent and pharmacy-stores sales fell 0.7 percent.

Rite Aid were trading at $1.29, down 2 cents (1.53 percent), early this afternoon on the New York Stock Exchange. Shares have been priced at 20 cents to $1.97 over the last 52 weeks.