Posted 11:30 p.m. Nov. 30
By Patrick W. Higgins
U-WIRE Washington Bureau
The holiday shopping season is off to a sluggish start, according to early reports that the consumer confidence index fell for the fifth straight month.
Consumer confidence dropped once again in November marking a seven-year low of 82 percent, down from 85 percent in October, according to a report released this week by The Conference Board, a New York-based private business research group.
Economists believe mediocre "black Friday" holiday shopping statistics are a culprit in the continual decline of consumer confidence. The numbers indicate a 2.4 percent increase in same-store sales, nearly half of the 4.6 percent increase of last year's post-Thanksgiving shopping according to TeleCheck Services Inc.
"The reason sales figures are increasing but not as fast as we might like is because unemployment is a bit higher and people don't have as much income to spend," Dan Mitchell, an economist with The Heritage Foundation told U-WIRE.
Shopping mall traffic was down 8.1 percent from last year, yet up 0.8 percent from 1999, an important comparison due to 2000's unusually high numbers.
"A comparison with last year might offer too pessimistic a picture of the whole industry," Michael Niemira, a retail analyst for the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi Ltd., told The Washington Post.
Major mall department store traffic decreased by 12.5 percent from last year and 5.2 percent from 1999, representing a shift to large discount stores.
While shopping malls nationwide witnessed the lethargic numbers in traffic in sales, major one-stop shopping discount stores reported record breaking sales figures, with Wal-Mart Stores Inc. sales in excess of $1.25 billion on Friday alone.
In related economic news, a Commerce Department economic indicators report listed the retail and food services sector to be up 7.1 percent in October from September and up 7.5 percent from October 2000.The report also listed unemployment rates for October as 5.4 percent, up from 4.9 percent in September.
By Patrick W. Higgins
U-WIRE Washington Bureau
The holiday shopping season is off to a sluggish start, according to early reports that the consumer confidence index fell for the fifth straight month.
Consumer confidence dropped once again in November marking a seven-year low of 82 percent, down from 85 percent in October, according to a report released this week by The Conference Board, a New York-based private business research group.
Economists believe mediocre "black Friday" holiday shopping statistics are a culprit in the continual decline of consumer confidence. The numbers indicate a 2.4 percent increase in same-store sales, nearly half of the 4.6 percent increase of last year's post-Thanksgiving shopping according to TeleCheck Services Inc.
"The reason sales figures are increasing but not as fast as we might like is because unemployment is a bit higher and people don't have as much income to spend," Dan Mitchell, an economist with The Heritage Foundation told U-WIRE.
Shopping mall traffic was down 8.1 percent from last year, yet up 0.8 percent from 1999, an important comparison due to 2000's unusually high numbers.
"A comparison with last year might offer too pessimistic a picture of the whole industry," Michael Niemira, a retail analyst for the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi Ltd., told The Washington Post.
Major mall department store traffic decreased by 12.5 percent from last year and 5.2 percent from 1999, representing a shift to large discount stores.
While shopping malls nationwide witnessed the lethargic numbers in traffic in sales, major one-stop shopping discount stores reported record breaking sales figures, with Wal-Mart Stores Inc. sales in excess of $1.25 billion on Friday alone.
In related economic news, a Commerce Department economic indicators report listed the retail and food services sector to be up 7.1 percent in October from September and up 7.5 percent from October 2000.The report also listed unemployment rates for October as 5.4 percent, up from 4.9 percent in September.
