Sales on the four days starting with the Thanksgiving holiday rose 1 percent from a year earlier to $22.2 billion, with fewer people hitting stores while spending more, according to researcher ShopperTrak.
Retail traffic during the period fell 4 percent from last year to 1.8 billion store visits, the Chicago-based firm said in an e-mailed statement today. ShopperTrak has forecast purchases will gain 2.4 percent in November and December, the smallest increase since 2009.
