"You are looking at modest to marginal growth from a year ago"
- Michael McNamara, a SpendingPulse vice president
Despite huge lines recorded on Black Friday, the U.S. holiday retail sales this year were the weakest since 2008. Retail sales in the world's biggest economy added only 0.7% from Oct. 28 through Dec. 24, down from a 2% increase a year ago, the Purchase, New York, research firm said earlier this week. The main reasons for such weak demand are weather conditions and concerns over the economic outlook, including the so-called "fiscal cliff". In 2008, when the county was in a deep recession, sales fell by between 2% and 4%. The survey also showed that Washington's current budget impasse weighed on the consumers' mood.
"You are looking at modest to marginal growth from a year ago," Michael McNamara, a SpendingPulse vice president, said in a telephone interview earlier this week. "Weather events and the fiscal debate both anchored the season in terms of growth. The media coverage, which did a good job of explaining the negative consequences of the fiscal cliff, created this negative trend in consumer confidence and spending."
"A lot of the Christmas spirit was left behind way back in Black Friday weekend," Cohen said, referring to the traditional retail rush the day after the Thanksgiving holiday in late November.
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