“A jump in consumer spending in the final stretch of December significantly offset a slow start to the U.S. holiday shopping season, and is likely to help many retailers beat sales forecasts, industry research groups said on Tuesday,” Nandita Bose reports for Reuters.
“The December spending boost is in contrast to a muted November, when early holiday promotions and expectations among consumers that deals would always be available took a toll. Spending over the Thanksgiving weekend in November fell 3.5 percent from a year ago despite a strong jump in online sales, according to the National Retail Federation,” Bose reports. “‘It was a hot start with Cyber Monday, followed by a lull for the last couple of weeks and then a big-bang finish,’ said Pete Madden, a director at retail consultancy AlixPartners.”
“Brick-and-mortar sales in the week ending Dec. 24 rose 6.5 percent year-over-year after having fallen for the rest of the month, according to data from analytics firm RetailNext,” Bose reports. “President-elect Donald Trump attributed the spending increased to his impending arrival at the White House. ‘The world was gloomy before I won – there was no hope. Now the market is up nearly 10 percent and Christmas spending is over a trillion dollars!’ Trump wrote on Twitter.”
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MacDailyNews Take: We’re crediting Apple’s last-minute launch of AirPods. 😉