Americans spent the year telling pollsters how worried they are about inflation and the economy. But initial accounts show their anxiety didn’t derail the holiday spending train in Chicago and nationwide.
Mastercard said Tuesday that its SpendingPulse, which tracks in-store and online retail sales for all forms of payment, rose 3.1% for the nearly two-month shopping season compared with last year. While that’s less than the 7.6% increase for the run-up to Christmas 2022, it’s in line with industry projections.
