Holiday Spending Gets Bump From Children’s Apparel

Holiday and December sales rose sharply in 2010, driven in part by robust sales in the children’s and family apparel category, according to reports released by MasterCard SpendingPulse. Holiday spending from Nov. 5 through Dec. 24 rose by 5.5 percent to $584.3 billion—its largest increase in five years. The strongest growth was in apparel, up 11.2 percent, and e-commerce, up 15.4 percent. In December, total apparel sales grew by 10.9 percent over 2009, the highest posting since March 2007.