Despite supply issues and omicron, holiday sales rise 8.5%

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By PAUL WISEMAN and ANNE D'INNOCENZIO

Holiday sales rose at the fastest pace in 17 years, even as shoppers grappled with higher prices, product shortages and a raging new COVID-19 variant in the last few weeks of the season, according to one spending measure.

Mastercard SpendingPulse, which tracks all kinds of payments including cash and debit cards, reported Sunday that holiday sales had risen 8.5% from a year earlier. Mastercard SpendingPulse had expected an 8.8% increase.

The results, which covered Nov. 1 through Dec. 24, were fueled by purchases of clothing and jewelry.

Holiday sales were up 10.7% compared with the pre-pandemic 2019 holiday period.



FILE - Customers wait in line to checkout during a Black Friday sale at Macy's, Friday, Nov. 26, 2021, in Indianapolis. Holiday sales rose at the fastest pace in 17 years, even as shoppers grappled with higher prices, product shortages and a raging new COVID-19 variant in the last few weeks of the season, according to one spending measure.(AP Photo/Darron Cummings)


Read more: https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-lifestyle-health-business-holidays-05a3bc6aff753ffd37cab20de1d7b066

[OldBaldy1701E]

1. Nice to know that those decades of programming paid off for them. (n/t)

[Alexander Of Assyria]

9. Yes, the human Xmas bots obey, again. Supply side problems, what supply side problems?

Basically all the panic was a mass media scam.

[OldBaldy1701E]

12. Yup! (n/t)

[bucolic_frolic]

2. Spending the cash in anticipation of price hikes in 2022

Anything I need and use regularly? Stock up on good prices. Food stuffs? 8 months worth.

[OnlinePoker]

3. Well, 6.8% of that is due to inflation based on the latest numbers. n/t

[RandiFan1290]

4. 'Holiday sales were up 10.7% compared with the pre-pandemic 2019 holiday period.'

[DENVERPOPS]

13. BINGO OP

Whenever I hear "increases from previous year" I LOL and immediately think of increases in sales prices......

Many retailers instead talk of increases in "units sold" which is considered by many to show a more accurate picture......

Every time I have gone shopping or paid bills this past year or two, I watch the price increases. 6.8% type figures are a joke.

AND, not only have prices taken quite a jump, the SIZE of the packages of food at the increased prices have dropped 10-30%.

This is all by design. And you can't blame it on Trump or Biden, it is mostly profiteering from out of control Corporations......
(I guess you can blame it on a president, in some ways......like dropping of regulations for instance......)

If you doubt this, just look at the extremely erratic prices you pay at the gas pumps through out the past decades, or even the past few years.......When have you ever heard of the oil companies being charged with price fixing or false market manipulation??????

[progree]

14. According to latest CPI data, Nov '21 over Nov '20 was 6.8% increase

https://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm

Won't have December's results until sometime in January.

https://data.bls.gov/timeseries/CUSR0000SA0

As for comparison to pre-pandemic, here are the CPI index figures from the above link:

Nov. 2019 257.387
Nov. 2021 278.880
+8.35% (4.09% annualized rate)

According to the OP:

'Holiday sales were up 10.7% compared with the pre-pandemic 2019 holiday period.'

So inflation adjusted sales are up about 2.35% over 2 years ago.

Or more correctly, (1.107/1.0835 - 1)*100% = 2.2%

I don't see anything wrong with that.

As for comments about packages shrinking -- the people doing the CPI surveys aren't a bunch of idiots. They not only look at the number of ounces and pounds on the package, they actually weigh the contents. So they aren't fooled by subtle or unsubtle trimming of package size.

[doc03]

5. May as well spend your cash you will lose over 6% of its value in any kind of Bank or

MM Fund. That's something that doesn't make sense CC cards charge upwards of 20% interest while a
savings account or MM account pays .01% and it has been that way for several years now. That's why the stock market is
up there is nowhere else to put your money.

[doc03]

6. I wonder if that cash spending or product sales? nt

[IronLionZion]

7. People have more income this time

if they've gotten raises or better jobs or have been saving up during the pandemic lean times. Then the investor class would have made tons of profits on their stocks.

[Alexander Of Assyria]

8. My takeaway is that the Biden administration is hitting it on all cylinders, much to

the dismay of the fascist sympathizing corporate media.

[rockfordfile]

15. I agree

[Achilleaze]

10. "Christmas sales through the roof. Dems in disarray." - Corporate media

Corporate Republican propaganda pimps looking desperately for ways to piss on brilliant Dem success.

As usual.

[twodogsbarking]

11. Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead.