NEW YORK — Consumers stepped up their spending, particularly on items like gadgets and clothing, for the first seven weeks of the holiday shopping period. But the pace was slower than a year ago amid worries about higher prices and other economic concerns, according to new data from Visa released Tuesday.
From Nov. 1 through Sunday, holiday sales rose 4.2%, a slower clip from the 4.8% increase during the same period a year ago, according to the company’s Visa Consulting & Analytics division, which analyzed a subset of Visa payments network data in the U.S.
The figure includes all methods of payment including cash and card.
The data, which exclude sales from auto dealerships, gas stations, and restaurants, are not adjusted for inflation including the impact from President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
When adjusted, retail sales rose a more modest 2.2% for that time frame, according to Visa’s principal U.S. economist Michael Brown. That compares to the inflation-adjusted 3% sales gain last year.
“It’s certainly not a spectacular season,” Brown told The Associated Press. “It’s sort of an average holiday season given concerns about macro economic growth, inflation. There’s still a lot of uncertainty among the consumer population.”
Retailers have described shoppers as being selective when making holiday purchases, choosing to focus on gifts for under the tree instead of holiday decor like ornaments for the tree, for example. Many households are struggling with higher prices in groceries, rent and imported goods hit by tariffs. The latest job report, released by the Labor Department last week, also shows a souring employment picture.
As a result, consumers’ mood has been gloomy, though it improved last month as worries about inflation eased a bit, according to the University of