What’s happening: Despite a sluggish start, US retail sales rose 8.5% year-over-year between Nov. 1 and Dec. 24, according to a new report from Mastercard (MA). An uptick in clothing sales, in particular, helped drive the spending surge.
“Consumers splurged throughout the season, with apparel and department stores experiencing strong growth as shoppers sought to put their best dressed foot forward,” Steve Sadove, senior advisor for Mastercard, said in a statement.
The report, published over the weekend, includes three big takeaways about the state of the retail industry.
Early shopping: US retail sales grew by 0.3% in November, a sharp decline from the previous month and less than economists had predicted. But that data may have looked weak because so many more people shopped in October, when sales jumped 1.8%.
Mastercard found that consumers had no problem pulling out their wallets earlier than usual as they tried to avoid delayed…
