Baton Rouge Retail Spending Up Six Percent In October

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Retail spending in East Baton Rouge Parish rebounded in October after two lackluster months, rising 6 percent compared with the same month the year before.

The latest sales tax collection figures released by the city-parish show businesses and consumers spent $647.7 million, up from $611.1 million in October 2011.

City-parish Finance Director Marsha Hanlon tells The Advocate (http://bit.ly/Vhkjnz ) the services sector was particularly strong in October, rising 21 percent. The category was led by the hospitals subcategory, which more than doubled.

Spending was up less than 1 percent in August and September — the two months after the end of the five-month national bowling tournament that pumped an estimated $113 million into the local economy.