MasterCard has said in its holiday spending report that the US retail sales rose 5.5 per cent from the day after Thanksgiving through Christmas Eve because of solid demand for women’s apparel. Apparel overall showed single-digit growth, women’s apparel showed a slightly higher growth than the average since Black Friday. It was not clear if the growth would translate into profits due to heavy discounting on apparel this year. The report, which tracks spending by combining sales activity in MasterCard’s payments network with estimates of cash and other payment forms, offers an early look into how the holiday season shaped up. Official Government data and results from retailers will not be available until next month.
