Dismal Holiday Sales for 2012 米国今年圣诞节销售惨淡

与咱的光棍节相比，米国今年的假日销售灰头土脸：自十月底到圣诞夜（中间包括感恩节），今年的零售额仅比去年同期增长0.7%

Hard times, fewer presents under the tree. Analysts are calling the 2012 holiday-shopping rush the slowest spending growth since the 2008 recession. Between the end of October and Christmas Eve retail sales for the season rose a mere 0.7 percent from last year, according to MasterCard’s research unit, SpendingPulse. SpendingPulse’s vice president of research called it “a lost season.” Hurricane Sandy was one factor suppressing growth, but even online sales registered lackluster gains.