AP: Holiday Sales Rose At Fastest Pace In 17 Years

The Associated Press reports:

Holiday sales rose at the fastest pace in 17 years, even as shoppers grappled with higher prices, product shortages and a raging new Covid-19 variant in the last few weeks of the season, according to one spending measure.

Mastercard Spending Pulse, which tracks all kinds of payments including cash and debit cards, reported Sunday that holiday sales had risen 8.5% from a year earlier.

By category, clothing rose 47%, jewelry 32%, electronics 16%. Online sales were up 11% from a year ago and 61% from 2019. Department stores registered a 21% increase over 2020.

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Holiday sales rose at the fastest pace in 17 years, even as shoppers grappled with higher prices, product shortages and omicron in the last few weeks of the season.https://t.co/FYAzK9jL5w

— The Associated Press (@AP) December 26, 2021