This news is most welcome. Spending is up, apparently, over last year's Black Friday.
Since some 70% of our economy is based on consumer purchases in some degree, it's great news for businesses when consumer spending increases, particularly during the holiday season.
The nation's shoppers took advantage of deals on toys and TVs with some renewed vigor in stores and online on Black Friday after a year of concentrating their spending on basic necessities.
Though the first numbers won't be available until Saturday, early reports indicated bigger crowds than last year, with people buying more and even throwing in some items for themselves.
When consumer spending goes up, it helps reassure businesses about the shape of the economy in general. Often, this helps to stem further job cuts. This couldn't have come at a better time. Naturally, we are not out of the woods yet in any way on the issues of unemployment and underemployment. But this good news coupled with the renewed Congressional focus on the jobs situation is a double dose of holiday cheer.
Analysts monitoring the malls said shoppers were less frenetic, having researched deals before going shopping. Extended hours also gave shoppers more time to grab deals both online and in stores than a year ago. Most Walmart stores were open on Thanksgiving to prevent the mad dash of shoppers for its Friday 5 a.m. specials.
ShopLocal, a subsidiary of publisher Gannett Co., on Friday said traffic was up 27 percent at top retailers' online sites featuring their Black Friday ads.
Stores were encouraged that shoppers appeared to be a little freer with their spending. Best Buy, Sears Holdings Corp. and Mall of America, as well as mall operators Taubman Centers and Simon Property Group, offered signs people were buying more than last year.
Granted, Black Friday is not necessarily an indicator of the entire season as a whole, but I will take good news where I can get it in these hard economic times.
http://news.yahoo.com/...