Spending Habits Survive Crash

The collapse in the stock market apparently has not caused the majority of Americans to change their spending habits, retail industry analysts said today after reviewing October sales results of the nation’s largest general retailers.

Sears Roebuck & Co., the nation’s largest retailer, reported its sales rose 1% last month from October, 1986, levels. J. C. Penney & Co. Inc. said its October sales soared 9.1% while K mart Corp. said its overall sales rose 6.7%. Stores serving higher-income customers, however, did not fare as well. For example, Carter Hawley Hale Stores Inc. suffered a 2.7% decline.