Prepare to hear much more of the “retail spending slowed down because the economy is just too strong” excuses today, used most hilariously by the NRF on Sunday to explain the unprecedented 11% collapse in the 2014 4-day holiday weekend spend, when pundits “justify” why Cyber Monday sales were only the latest proof the US consumer – that 70% driver of US GDP – is being crushed day after day, pardon, basking in the warm glow of America’s centrally-planned golden age.
Here are the facts: Internet holiday shopping rose only 8.1% on Cyber Monday yesterday, usually the busiest day for Web shopping as people return to their desks after the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday weekend. This was a big miss to expectations, and is less than half then growth posted just last year, when online sales grew at 17.5%, according to IBM.
Enter the spin doctors: