Posted on 12/26/2018 3:41:12 PM PST by mdittmar
New York (CNN Business)Holiday sales grew at their fastest pace in six years, buoyed by rising wages and a drop in gas prices.
Retail spending from November 1 through December 24 increased 5.1% from a year ago, according to Mastercard SpendingPulse. Shoppers spent more than $850 billion during the holidays.
Unfazed by volatility on Wall Street, consumers flooded into stores and bought clothes and home decor online. Gas prices have dropped by more than 20 cents a gallon over the past month, giving shoppers extra cash for the holidays.
"Consumer confidence translated into holiday cheer for retail," said Steve Sadove, senior advisor for Mastercard and former CEO of Saks Fifth Avenue.
The strong holiday shopping season is another sign many Americans are disconnected from the day-to-day stock market action.
"What happens in the stock market doesn't necessarily lead to difficulties in the retail industry since stock ownership is not widely spread in the US," said Michelle Grant, head of retailing at Euromonitor International.
Growth online continued at a breakneck pace this holiday. Online sales rose more than 19% compared to last year, according to Mastercard.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
How did this get pass the Hate Trump censors at CNN?
I just started a part time job as a cashier while I am in school. I can say the past month has been insanely busy. I am also talking about a store that may get 1/10th the traffic of Wal-Mart. People are spending a ton of money on things they do not need. That usually means good times ahead.
CNN reputed this..I almost fell out of the chair!! Merry Christmas!
Correction..Reported!
I don’t consider $2.50/gal to be ‘cheap’ gas.
$1/gal would qualify, but no breath being held.
While Wall St. feasted on 0% interest cheap money throughout the Obama reign, Main St. got nothing but abuse in low wages and high unemployment. The Wall Street rich should have saved their surplus cash during the good years instead of wasting it by donating so generously to the DNC.
To many taxes on gas,.68 cents a gallon when I was a youngster,and you got your windshield washed;)
No, best ever. Total Christmas retail sales are far higher than they've ever been. The only way to claim an Obama year was better is by percentage gain and by neglecting to mention Obama's huge drop before that. Total sales is what's important, not cherry picking percentage gains.
It was $1.89 in Clinton, Mississippi and $1.75 here in Burleson, TX.
$1.79 here in Albuquerque
I paid $1.579 CDN/litre. for premium gas yesterday.
Thanks, Dustbin Turd-Owe, liEberal party of canuckistan and the Horgan dippers..
$1.71 in San Antonio. I am so happy not to spend $75 to fill my truck. Alaska, under Obama.
lol !
2.75+ here in Boston. Ugh. Feel like it was 2014 or so when it was Under 2 bucks a gallon.
“I don’t consider $2.50/gal to be ‘cheap’ gas.”
$1.77 in San Antonio. I’ll take it.
Well, yeah.
Cheap gas? Not in Phoenix where I live. Still hovering around $2.65-2.85 for unleaded.
About $3.25 to over $4 where I live in the San Fernando Valley
https://www.gasbuddy.com/home?search=91304&fuel=1
I paid 29 cents a gallon and got windshield washed and oil checked.
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