US holiday sales rose this year as American spending remained resilient during the critical shopping season despite surging prices on everything from food to rent, according to one measure.
Holiday sales rose 7.6 per cent, a slower pace than the 8.5 per cent increase from a year earlier when shoppers began spending the money they had saved during the early part of the pandemic, according to Mastercard SpendingPulse, which tracks all kinds of payments including cash and debit cards.
US shoppers helped fuel a jump in retail spending during the holiday period.Credit:AP
Mastercard SpendingPulse had expected a 7.1 per cent increase. The data released Monday excludes the automotive industry and is not adjusted for inflation, which has eased somewhat but remains painfully high.
US sales between November 1 and December 24, a period that is critical for retailers and takes in pre-Christmas and Black Friday sales, were fuelled by spending at restaurants and on clothing.
By category, clothing rose 4.4 per cent, while jewellery and electronics dipped roughly 5 per cent. Online sales jumped 10.6 per cent from a year ago and in-person spending rose 6.8 per cent. Department stores registered a modest 1 per cent increase over 2021.
“This holiday retail season looked different than years past,” Steve Sadove, the former CEO and chairman at Saks and a senior advisor for Mastercard, said in a prepared statement. “Retailers discounted heavily, but consumers diversified their holiday spending to accommodate rising prices and an appetite for experiences and festive gatherings post-pandemic.”
Some of the increase reflected the impact of higher prices across the board.
Consumer spending accounts for nearly 70 per cent of US economic activity, and Americans have remained resilient ever since inflation first spiked almost 18 months ago. Cracks have begun to show, however, as higher prices for basic necessities take up an increasingly large share of everyone’s take-home pay.
Inflation has retreated from the four-decade high it reached this summer, but it’s still sapping the spending power of consumers. Prices rose 7.1 per cent in November from a year ago, down from a peak of 9.1 per cent in June.
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