SpendingPulse Reports US Holiday Retail Sales Up 8.7%
Stephanie King reports for the Wall St. Journal on an optimistic report from MasterCard Advisors' SpendingPulse retail data service that concludedholiday spending rose 8.7 percent.
The strongest category gains came in home furnishings, including linens and picture frames, with sales up 15%, according to the SpendingPulse data. Sales of consumer electronics grew 11%, fueled in part by prices for flat-screen TVs and digital cameras that were lower than last year. Sales of sporting goods, books, music and video advanced 6.4%, while apparel rose 5.8%, despite the lack of must-have items this year. Women's apparel did a little better, with an 8.2% gain. Furniture sales rose 5.3%. Sales of jewelry slid 4.6%, perhaps as shoppers funneled their big-ticket spending into electronics.
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