US Holiday Sales Rise 3 Percent

U.S. retail holiday sales rose by 3 percent, as reported by Mastercard SpendingPulse (Purchase, Harrison, N.Y.) and according to Bloomberg. Driven primarily by online shoppers, an extended shopping period due to retailers beginning their sales season early, from roughly Oct. 11 through Dec. 24, also aided in that increase in sales.

Home goods categories are still performing well and have throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, while department stores saw a 10 percent decrease in sales during the extended period, due to customers reluctance to shop in store, according to Bloomberg.

Online sales rose 49 percent from a year ago according to the report by Mastercard.