Dec 25, 2007

U.S. retailers’ holiday sales upBy Ilaina JonasBoston.com

New York – U.S. retailers’ sales rose 3.6 percent in holiday shopping, at the lower end of expectations, helped by a late-season spending surge on some items, according to data released on Tuesday by SpendingPulse.

The figures, from the retail data service of MasterCard Advisors, offer a glimpse at the strength of the 2007 holiday shopping season, which was expected to grow at the slowest rate in five years, as U.S. consumers face a housing slump, a credit crunch and higher prices for food and fuel.

“It’s more at the lower end of the expected range but more or less in line with the reduced expectations coming into the holiday season,” said Michael McNamara, vice president of Research and Analysis for MasterCard Advisors.

SpendingPulse, a report released by MasterCard, had projected spending to rise 3.5 percent to 4.0 percent over last year’s holiday season. Excluding gasoline, which cost about 30 percent more than last holiday season, spending rose 2.4 percent.

Economists and policy-makers have been closely monitoring the U.S. consumer, a sector increasingly seen as the savior that could keep the economy from slipping into a recession. Some analysts expect U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) to weaken in the fourth quarter and show either no expansion or rise by just 1 percent.

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