Merry Christmas By the Numbers
Plenty of money flowing for gifts and decorations, according to U.S. Census Bureau.
There's plenty of ways to look at the holiday season, but the U.S. Census Bureau has offered a little numerical perspective on what typically goes on this time of year. $27 billion: The total amount of retails sales at the nation's department stores in December 2011, the most recent year with available statistics. Not surprisingly, this amount was a 45-percent increase over November 2011. 22 percent: This is the amount departments stores increased their inventories between August and November 2011. Of course, inventories dipped by 21 percent when holiday shoppers hit the stores in December 2011. $38 billion: The total amount of retails sales done online or by mail order in December 2011. $1 billion: The value of U.S. imports of Christmas …
