The holiday numbers come a few days after a Labor Department report showed that the number of US workers filing for first-time unemployment benefits increased 30,000 to 586,000 last week. The four-week moving average rose to 558,000. Both figures are the highest they have been since November 1982.
The sales declines are two to five times more severe than most analysts expected. It is the first time that holiday sales have fallen in the US in at least 40 years. SpendingPulse noted in its report that the 2008 shopping season was "one of the most challenging...we've faced in modern times."
The figures are based on sales from the company's credit card, with estimates for other forms of spending.
The Booming Economy
Christmas sales are down while unemployment is up.
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