Christmas sales in the US saw their biggest increase in 17 years despite the advance of the Omicron variant

Christmas sales in the US saw their biggest increase in 17 years, despite inflation, shortages of some products and the new variant of the coronavirus.According to a specialized number.

MasterCard Spending Pulse, which tracks all types of expenses including credit and debit cards, Sunday Christmas sales are up 8.5% over the previous year. The company expected an increase of 7.4%.

The results, running from November 1 to December 24, were Mostly driven by purchase clothes and jewelry.

Sales increased 10.7% compared to just before the epidemic, in 2019.

by rating, Apparel sales rose 47%, jewelry 32% and electronics 16%.

the Online sales are up 11% compared to the previous year and 61% compared to 2019.

Sales at department stores were up 21% from the previous year.

after the appearance of omicron variableLots of people stayed at home, but They put their purchases online, so the total number of sales continued to rise.

“I feel very satisfied with the development of the season”, He said Steve Sadoff, a senior advisor to Mastercard and former CEO of Saks Inc. “When people feel a little bit uncomfortable, we see some recovery in online sales and a bit of a slowdown in stores.”

Sadove said that Consumers ‘learn to live’ with what COVID-19 is throws them.

“It’s coming out of 2021 with a lot of consumer momentum”, He said.

However, Get a bigger picture of US sales next month When the National Retail Federation publishes its results for the past two months.

These results will be based on a November and December sales analysis Issued by the Ministry of Commerce. Analysts will also examine corresponding financial results for the fourth quarter of the year by various retail chains, which will be released in February.

Probably micron slows down an unexpectedly strong recovery in the economy from last year’s coronavirus recessionThis cuts off travel and may deter some consumers from entering shops, restaurants and bars.

The alternative could also exacerbate inflation This is already latent by forcing factory and port closures, delaying shipments, and raising prices.

“A complete reopening of the US economy will be delayed again”said Robin Brooks, chief economist at the Institute of International Finance, a trade group of financial firms.

But it is not yet clear how deep the strike will be or how long it will last.

real time, The latest iteration of COVID-19 is changing vacation plans for tens of thousands of travelers.

Airlines canceled hundreds more flights on Sunday, citing COVID-19-related employment issues as the country’s travel problems extended well beyond Christmas, with no clear indication of when normal business hours would resume.

I know Over 700 flights canceled within, departing from, or flying in the United States According to flight tracking website FlightAware. That number is down from about 1,000 on Saturday. More than 50 flights have already been canceled for Monday.

Delta, United and JetBlue blamed the omicron variant of the coronavirus for staff shortages that led to the cancellations.

all over the world, airlines canceled about 2,200 flights Sunday morning, up from more than 2,800 cancellations the day before.FlightAware data showed.

(with AP info)

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