Christmas Spending Shows Worst Year-Over-Year Performance Since 2008

WASHINGTON (AP) — Retailers are hoping that shoppers who held back on pre-Christmas spending will start to make up for that today.

According to MasterCard Advisors SpendingPulse, the final week of December accounts for about 15 percent of the sales during the month.

The analysts there say sales of electronics, clothing, jewelry and home goods in the two months before Christmas increased just 0.7 percent from last year. That's well below the 3 or 4 percent growth that analysts had expected.

It's the worst year-over-year performance since 2008.