Macy's Rings In the Holiday Season

 Yesterday was a really good day for Macy’s stock – a result that may end up having ramifications for the larger economy over the remainder of this year. In its third-quarter earnings report, Macy’s reported overall profits were up 22 percent from a year ago. More importantly, the store predicted a strong fourth quarter, saying it would be hiring an additional 83,000 workers for the holiday shopping season.

Investors had worried that the government shutdown and a still-sluggish economy might lead to a miserable shopping season this year. It didn’t help that Macy’s actually missed Wall Street’s earnings expectations in the second quarter. While many analysts expected Macy’s to guide its overall earnings for the year downward yesterday, instead they reinforced the higher number.

That means Macy’s is expecting its strength to continue through the end of the year. With holiday sales accounting for somewhere between 20 and 40 percent of a retailer’s annual sales, the rest of the year will be critical for that area of the economy.