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Weak Start, Strong Finish To Holiday Shopping Season

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Two strong economic indicators today, as we head into the last week of the year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average passed the 18,000 mark for the first time ever, and the U.S. GDP grew 5 percent in the third quarter of the year, its strongest third-quarter growth in more than a decade.

Then there's a third, anecdotal indicator of how the economy's doing: the holiday shopping season, which started off with weaker-than-expected sales on Black Friday, is actually finishing off strong.

When all is said and done, the National Retail Federation is predicting sales will have increased 4.1 percent over last year.

Here & Now's Robin Young talks to Sucharita Mulpuru, retail analyst at Forrester Research about what people are buying, and how retailers are fairing this holiday season.

Guest

  • Sucharita Mulpuru, retail analyst at Forrester Research. She tweets @smulpuru.

This segment aired on December 23, 2014.

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