NEW YORK – Wal-Mart Stores Inc. issued a sobering warning for the holiday shopping season Thursday, predicting that its December same-store sales gain would be no better than 1 percent.

The news, coupled with Wal-Mart's expected announcement that it suffered its first same-store decline in more than 10 years during November, came as the nation's retailers reported an overall mixed sales performance for the month. Same-store sales reflect business at stores open at least a year and are the industry standard for measuring a retailer's strength.

Wal-Mart's disappointment was a sharp contrast with results from Target Corp., which beat Wall Street forecasts, and Federated Department Stores Inc., which far exceeded expectations.

Other retailers had mixed sales. J.C. Penney Co. of Plano and Costco Wholesale Corp. both fell short of Wall Street projections.

Industry analysts generally believed that Wal-Mart's problems weren't a sign that other retailers would have a disappointing holiday season. But a Labor Department report Thursday that showed a jump in claims for jobless benefits last week did add some uncertainty to the outlook for holiday sales.

The timing of Wal-Mart's news couldn't have been worse for the world's largest retailer, coming just after most consumers started holiday shopping. Although many retailers had a strong Thanksgiving weekend, Wal-Mart had warned Saturday that its November sales would drop 0.1 percent.

Wal-Mart has struggled in recent months on a mix of problems, including the fact that low-income customers were hurt by soaring gas prices. But the company's lackluster sales have persisted even as the cost of gas has eased, an indication that other factors are dragging down Wal-Mart's results.

"This is pretty discouraging," said Ken Perkins of RetailMetrics LLC, a research company in Swampscott, Mass. But he said Wal-Mart's weak sales "will not be a harbinger of a broad-based weakness across the retail sector."

The International Council of Shopping Centers-UBS tally of November same-store rose 2.1 percent, less than the forecast for a 3 percent gain. Excluding Wal-Mart, the tally rose 4 percent.

On the day after Thanksgiving, shoppers focused on getting the best bargain, gravitating toward early-bird specials and leaving stores when the deals disappeared.

"This tells me that the customer is ever savvy about shopping for markdowns," said John Morris, a managing director at Wachovia Securities. "It takes promotions to stimulate demand in this early part of the season. The next couple of weeks will be really telling."

Chains had varying levels of success in November.

Fort Worth-based Pier 1 Imports Inc. said its same-store sales plunged 15.3 percent in the month, worse than the 13.6 percent forecast.

Discounter Target said same-store sales rose 5.9 percent, topping forecasts of a 5.7 percent gain, as consumers bought electronics and health care and consumer products.

Costco reported a 5 percent gain in same-store sales, below the 5.7 percent estimate. The retailer, which sells gasoline, was hurt by declining prices at the pump.

Among department stores, Federated, which acquired May Department Stores last year, reported a robust 8.5 percent gain in same-store sales, beating the 4.8 percent estimate.

Same-store sales include only Macy's and Bloomingdale's and will not include former May stores, such as converted Foley's locations, until they've been part of the mix for 12 months, which will be September 2007. Federated also raised its December forecast.

Little Rock-based Dillard's Inc. said its same-store sales fell 3 percent, with weakness in children's apparel, juniors' apparel and furniture.

Above-average sales came in lingerie and accessories, which it said significantly exceeded the average company performance.

Nordstrom Inc. had a 5.4 percent gain in same-store sales, matching Wall Street expectations. Saks Inc., which shed its midbrow stores to focus on its luxury business, reported a 7.2 percent gain in same-store sales.

Dallas-based Neiman Marcus Inc.'s same-store sales rose 2.9 percent, with stores doing better than direct sales. Its Irving-based catalog and Internet sales declined 2.4 percent. The chain said this week that its online sales have been coming later in the holiday season.

Results from Kohl's Corp. and Plano-based Penney were disappointing. Penney said same-store sales at its department stores rose 1.4 percent, falling short of the 3.7 percent forecast from Wall Street. Kohl's had a 3.7 percent gain in same-store sales, below the 4.8 percent prediction.

In a recorded message, Penney said that early in the month, sales started out stronger than last year, and the day after Thanksgiving also beat last year. But results fell off Saturday. It also noted that there are four weekends left before Christmas, which falls on a Monday this year. That could move more sales into the last weekend.

"We're cautiously optimistic," said Darcie Brossart, Penney spokeswoman. "We feel good about the merchandise in the stores, and customers are responding well to our red-box gifts."

Penney reiterated its forecast to earn $1.94 a share in the current quarter and for December sales to rise in the low single digits at both its stores and direct business, which is made up of catalog and Internet.

Limited Brands Inc. had a 12 percent increase in same-store sales, exceeding the 7.8 percent estimate.

Gap Inc., which is still struggling to find the right fashion formula, suffered an 8 percent drop in same-store sales, worse than the 5.4 percent forecast. But its Banana Republic chain's decline was only 1 percent. Teen retailers generally did well.

Staff writer Maria Halkias and the Associated Press contributed to this report.