MADELEINE BRAND, host: Good retail news begins NPR's business news.</s>MADELEINE BRAND, host: Retailers enjoyed a fairly jolly holiday season. MasterCard SpendingPulse, which tracks how much American consumers spend, says that from November through Christmas Eve, retail sales rose 3.6 percent compared to the same period last year. A lot of the spending was done online. Shoppers were looking for jewelry and consumer electronics. At department stores and clothing shops, though, sales were down a bit.
Retail sales rose 3.6 percent from November through Christmas Eve compared to a year ago. The figures are according to SpendingPulse, which is a unit of MasterCard Advisors.