The Mastercard SpendingPulse report is out, showing a drop of 5.4% year-on-year in jewelry sales in the US “despite a growth in overall spending of 7.6,” according to IDEX Online. The report includes figures of in-store and online purchases for November 1 to December 24.
Spending in restaurants was up 15.1% compared to the same period in 2021, and spending on clothes was up 4.4%. Spending on electronics was down 5.3%. Despite the drop in jewelry and electronic sales, total retails sales, not including the automotive sector, were up 7.6%
Steve Sadove, senior advisor for Mastercard, commented: “Inflation altered the way US consumers approached their holiday shopping – from hunting for the best deals to making trade-offs that stretched gift-giving budgets.”
