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(Newser) - Victoria's Secret says it's rushing to investigate claims that it buys supplies from farms that use child labor. A Bloomberg report today described a 13-year-old girl in the West African country of Burkina Faso who faces beatings at the farm where she picks cotton. That cotton is ultimately...

(Newser) - Stocks inched higher this morning as investors chewed on retailer and jobs data. The Dow added 17 points while the Nasdaq and S&P rose 9.03 and 3.17 points respectively. Jobless claims took a rare step in the right direction last week, with ongoing claims dropping for the...

(Newser) - As a sluggish economy pinches retailers, many are now turning to computer programs to track employee productivity, the Wall Street Journal reports. At Ann Taylor stores, a computer system calculates average sales per hour, units sold, and dollars per transaction —then automatically schedules the best workers during the store’...

(Newser) - Big retailers showed unexpected signs of life in February, beating weak sales predictions to inject some hope into the market. Wal-Mart led the way, posting a 2.6% same-store increase, beating its own predictions of flat-to-2% growth. Overall, same-store sales climbed 1.9%, with more than half of retailers beating...