US consumers were in the mood to spend this holiday season, with retail sales soaring 8.5 percent over last year, a study released Sunday showed.
Online sales were up 11 percent and in-store sales up 8.1 percent between November 1 and Christmas Eve, according to the Mastercard SpendingPulse study.
The increase, which was the strongest in 17 years, does not reflect automobile sales.
news.yahoo.com/us-retail-sales-8-5-013714626.html
- Holiday sales were up 10.7%, compared with the pre-pandemic 2019 holiday period.
- By category, clothing rose 47%, jewelry 32%, and electronics 16%.
- Online sales were up 11% from a year ago and 61% from 2019. Department stores registered a 21% increase over 2020.
www.cnbc.com/2021/12/26/despite-supply-issues-and-omicron-holiday-sales-rise-8point5percent.html
The world economy is set to surpass $100 trillion for the first time in 2022, two years earlier than previously forecast, according to the Centre for Economics and Business Research.
Global gross domestic product will be lifted by the continued recovery from the pandemic, although if inflation persists it may be hard for policy makers to avoid tipping their economies back into recession, the London-based think tank said.
“The important issue for the 2020s is how the world economies cope with inflation,” said Douglas McWilliams, the CEBR’s deputy chairman. “We hope that a relatively modest adjustment to the tiller will bring the non-transitory elements under control. If not, then the world will need to brace itself for a recession in 2023 or 2024.”
finance.yahoo.com/news/world-economy-now-set-surpass-000500732.html