Most Retailers Say Sales Rose Modestly in August : Stores: California’s showing appeared to lag the nation’s, however, partly because of the long state budget crisis.

Most of the nation’s large retail chains on Thursday reported modest sales increases for August, but sales in California appeared to lag behind, in part because of the long state budget crisis.

Nationwide retail sales rose an average of 4.7% compared to the same period last year despite a late Labor Day holiday, which delayed back-to-school shopping.

Labor Day, which traditionally marks the end of summer vacation, falls a week later this year than in 1991. Analysts estimated that the timing of the holiday may have crimped last month’s sales by as much as two or three percentage points for some retailers, but they expect holiday sales over the long weekend to boost September results.

The end of the state budget impasse might revive sales in California, analysts said.

Walter Loeb, an analyst at New York-based Loeb Associates, said California’s economic problems--including relatively high unemployment--were exacerbated by the 63-day budget impasse that ended Wednesday. He said state and municipal employees and those employed at many firms that do business with the state were reluctant buyers in August.

“California fell off the map as far as retail business is concerned,” Loeb said.

Nationwide, one of the retailing leaders was J. C. Penney, whose sales rose 10.7% to $1.38 billion. Excluding newer stores--those that have operated less than 12 months--Penney sales rose 12.4%.

Meanwhile, August sales at troubled Sears, Roebuck & Co. exceeded analysts expectations, rising 4% to $1.88 billion.

Discounters continued to record the biggest sales gains. Wal-Mart Stores had sales of $4.6 billion, a 26% increase.

Overall, “sales weren’t spectacular, but it was a good month on average,” said Philip Abbenhaus, an analyst at St. Louis-based A. G. Edwards. “However, people are still worried about the economy.”

Most retailers do not provide monthly sales data on a regional basis. However, Abbenhaus said sales appear to be strongest in the Southeast, fairly stable in the Midwest, lackluster on the East Coast and weakest in Southern California and the Southwest.

“The market in Southern California is particularly tough right now,” he said. “There’s a lot of competition, and the state economy is weak.”

However, some retailers fared relatively well in California in August. For example, Dayton Hudson Corp.--it operates 111 Mervyn’s stores and 110 Target stores in California--reported nationwide sales of $1.38 billion, an increase of 7.3%. The company’s sales increase in California was comparable to the nationwide average, said spokeswoman Ann Barkelew.

Barkelew said Target’s business in California was buoyed by sales of toothpaste and detergent and other household necessities. She said lower prices were the attraction. Mervyn’s back-to-school apparel for children sold briskly, and sales of women’s casual wear were also strong, she said.

Nationwide sales at May Department Stores Co.--another retailer with a strong presence in Southern California--rose modestly. The company, operator of May Co. and Robinson’s stores and PayLess ShoeSource stores, had sales of $796.7 million for the four-week period ended Aug. 29, an increase of 2.6%.