Retail is having its best holiday shopping season in six years, according to early data tracking consumers' purchases.
Sales in the U.S. from Nov. 1 through Christmas Eve were up 5.1 percent to amount to more than $850 billion, according to Mastercard SpendingPulse, which monitors spending both in stores and online via all forms of payment. Mastercard also said online sales during that time frame were up 19.1 percent from a year ago, in line with earlier reports that showed robust growth in e-commerce this holiday season.
And this all comes amid the latest fluctuations in the stock market, worries on Wall Street about a potentially slowing economy and a partial government shutdown. Consumer confidence remains strong, translating into robust retail sales, said Steve Sadone, the former CEO of Saks and current advisor for Mastercard.
Over the past few weeks, "many retailers were able to give consumers what they wanted," he added.
Some of the strongest sectors within retail this holiday season include apparel and home improvement, according to Mastercard. Apparel sales were up nearly 8 percent from Nov. 1 through Dec. 24, their best growth since 2010, the firm said. Home improvement spending, meanwhile, was up 9 percent.
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