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Despite the increase in prices on almost all products and services, Christmas sales increased 7.6% this year, according to Mastercard SpendingPulse, which tracks all types of payments, including cash and cards.
The data shows that the increase occurred at a slower pace than the previous yearfrom 8.5%, when shoppers began to spend the money they had saved during the first part of the pandemic.
“This holiday shopping season looked different than previous years. Retailers discounted heavily, but consumers diversified their spending holidays to accommodate rising prices,” Steve Sadove, former CEO and chairman of Saks and a senior adviser to Mastercard, said in a statement.
The published data exclude the automotive industry and are not adjusted for inflationwhich has dropped a bit, but is still painfully high.
Sales in the United States between November 1 and December 24, a critical period for retailers, fell driven by restaurant and clothing spending.
Clothing sales rose 4.4%, while jewelry and electronics fell about 5%. Online sales increased by 10.6% compared to the previous year and personnel spending increased by 6.8%. Department stores posted a modest 1% increase over 2021.
Consumer spending represents nearly 70% of US economic activity.and Americans have remained resilient since inflation first spiked nearly 18 months ago.
However, the ever-higher prices have begun to hit consumers’ pockets, even those who still have savings.
Although inflation has receded from the all-time high reached this summer, still high compared to previous years. Prices rose 7.1% in November from a year earlier.
A bigger picture of how Americans spent their money is expected in January when the National Retail Federation releases its two-month combined results based on November-December sales figures from the Commerce Department.
The trade group expects holiday sales growth to slow to a range of 6% to 8%, compared with a blistering 1.5% growth a year ago.
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