NEW YORK (AP) – The outlook for the holiday season dimmed Thursday as the nation’s retailers reported disappointing sales for November following an uninspiring Thanksgiving weekend.

Downbeat reports came from across the sector as stores released their first solid results for the start of holiday shopping. The dismal results included Wal-Mart, Federated Department Stores, Gap, and even upscale retailers like Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus Group, which have consistently surpassed Wall Street’s projections.

“This can’t bode well for the holiday season,” said Ken Perkins, an analyst at RetailMetrics LLC, a research firm based in Swampscott, Mass.

The exceptions were J.C. Penney Co. and Sears, Roebuck and Co., who successfully wooed customers with bigger discounts than a year ago. Teen clothing retailers also fared well.

The report had little impact on the stock market. The Dow was down 5.10 points to close at 10,585.12, while the Nasdaq was up 5.34.

The results come as gasoline prices remain high and many shoppers have cut spending amid fears about jobs.

In other economic news Thursday, the Labor Department reported that the number of new people signing up for unemployment benefits rose sharply last week but the overall level of applications still indicates a recovering job market. New filings for unemployment insurance rose by a seasonally adjusted 25,000 to 349,000 for the week ending Nov. 27, which included Thanksgiving. Some analysts expected a smaller rise – around 7,000.

Meanwhile, the Commerce Department said orders to U.S. factories rebounded in October, increasing by a solid 0.5 percent after being flat in September.

The November retailing report consisted of a tally by the International Council of Shopping Centers-UBS of sales at 71 stores. Sales rose 1.7 percent, less than the scaled-back forecast of 2.5 percent to 3 percent. The tally is based on what the industry calls same-store sales, or sales at stores opened at least a year. They are considered the best indicator of a retailer’s performance.

Not everyone is giving up on the holiday shopping season, however.

“We think it is too soon to define the holiday season as a success or a disappointment,” said Ellen Tolley, a spokeswoman at the National Retail Federation. “The holiday season is going to be decided at the last minute, the week before and the week after Christmas” when shoppers do much of their buying.

Still, some of the nation’s retailers are not willing to wait. Wal-Mart is launching a new advertising campaign to remind its customers of its low prices. And Gap suggested Thursday it is considering steep price cutting.

AP-ES-12-02-04 1746EST