So was this year's Black Friday a strong step forward for the economic recovery, or a sign that it's still stuck in the mud? It depends on whom you ask. Retail sales over the long weekend totaled $45 billion, but the trendlines being reported by various entities vary widely:
* According to the National Retail Federation, the average shopper spent 6.4 percent more this weekend than he or she had last year.
* A Chicago research firm called ShopperTrak says sales on Black Friday itself were up only 0.3 percent over the previous year.
* Traffic in the retail stores on Black Friday was a bit stronger than that, rising by 2.2 percent over 2009.
* The Black Friday numbers may have been depressed by people starting their shopping earlier. Retail sales for the first two weeks of November were up more than 6 percent over the same period last year.
* Online sales showed the biggest jump, with Internet sales increasing by almost 16 percent over last year.
No comments:
Post a Comment