What's up with Wal-Mart's US sales slump? Rising gas prices are adding another obstacle to Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s campaign to reverse a two-year U.S. sales slump.

Robust overseas business and expense cutting helped Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s net income rise 3 percent in the first quarter, beating Wall Street expectations. But business at home is still soft for the world's largest retailer even as it rushes to restock shelves with groceries and other items it scrapped while trying to clean up its stores.

Wal-Mart shoppers are already strained by weak job and housing markets. Now customers are consolidating shopping trips to save money on gas, a sign they're being squeezed tighter.


U.S. Walmart stores posted their eighth straight quarter of revenue declines at stores open at least a year. That figure compares revenue with the same quarter a year earlier and excludes stores that opened or closed during the year. It's an important measure of a retailer's health.