Holiday Retail Sales Higher Than Last Year

Purchase, NY, Dec. 28, 2009–U.S. retail sales were up an estimated 3.6 percent during the holiday season from a year earlier, according to MasterCard Advisors’ SpendingPulse.

The estimate for Nov. 1 to Dec. 24 excludes automotive and gasoline sales.

“People were more comfortable doing last-minute shopping online, especially with the bad weather,” Kamalesh Rao, director of economic research for SpendingPulse, told Bloomberg News.

Online sales were a particular hot spot, fueled by a big increase the weekend before Christmas. They rose 15.5 percent on the season, though they make up less than 10 percent of all retail sales.