Ftfa (the part I could read) “ growth is buoyed by an exuberant stockmarket and artificial-intelligence investment, while ordinary Americans languish”

Black Friday sales set records and it not even cyber Monday. If Americans are languishing then shouldn’t holiday spending be down?

I postponed all of my CPG and miscellaneous purchases (think AA batteries, socks, winter pants, skin lotion, body wash, etc.) until Black Friday "sales". I also stocked up on stuff like Ramen. I did NOT buy anything special for myself (e.g., I really wanted Switch 2, but I think it's too overpriced and decided not to pull the trigger).

I'd not be surprised if a good number of people did the same. PLUS, the prices rose by quite a bit between the start of the year and now. So we need to see if this increase is sales match up to inflation (which, unfortunately, would be more difficult to rely on knowing that that metric has become politicized.)

Black Friday did not set records. Bloomberg stated that it was up 4.1%, but that was not inflation adjusted. So it was just slightly higher than flat.

Not necessarily a bad thing…but not great either.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-11-29/black-fri...

Consumers in the top 10% of the income distribution accounted for 49.2% of total spending, per Bloomberg. If anything, in my opinion, this strengthens the k-shaped economic growth stat that the article mentions.

Black friday is a datapoint. But maybe people are deferring purchases to these sale periods. What proportion of goods were luxury vs. not.

Also poor people can get into debt they are still poor. Maybe they can afford a nintendo switch but not afford to raise a family.

K shaped economy with increasing expenditure means the wealthier increase their spending as a portion of the economy and at an absolute level. It is not interpreted as the polity doing well - if anything, it is cause for concern.

Shouldn’t every year be a record considering population growth and inflation?

The rise in Black Friday sales is misleading because the sales reflect inflation rather than increased consumer demand.

the country is growing so it will commonly "set records". We need to look at it in the context of previous years. Before I went and checked the stats I expected to see instore shopping to be down since americans are poorer than previous years and online shopping to be up since demand is growing and online caters to a worldwide audience.

Checking the stats online growth is up and on par with previous years creating that record breaking stat. Instore numbers arent out yet but some figures are claiming less foot traffic in stores compared with previous years. So i'd say to early to really call if spending was down(compared with expectations)

A few observations:

1. I saw the same headline - the article stated that there were record SEASON sales, not Black Friday sales. The headline did not match the content of the article. 2. Record revenue, not necessarily record units sold. To be expected with inflation. 3. Savvy online shoppers may be bundling purchases to reduce shipping costs. Waiting for a seasonal sale to buy holiday gifts as well as detergent, snacks and underwear may be quite prudent.

Finally, increased sales revenue does not necessarily equate to more jobs. It can, but by no means does it have to.

>Ftfa (the part I could read)

You did in fact not rtfm?

>Black Friday sales set records and it not even cyber Monday.

https://www.cnn.com/2025/11/29/business/black-friday-us-econ...

I don't know where you're seeing "record numbers". 2024 wasn't a great year and you can argue spending was flat from that after inflation. I think the more relevant factor is "who" is spending the money in such a k-shaped economy. .

> Ftfa (the part I could read) [...]

https://archive.is/NvSXc

Others have pointed out the brackets really buying, but I'd also argue that people deferring their purchases to a period of sales is generally not a good thing.

Not necessarily. Average income can be up substantially at the same time that median income remains flat or even declines. This means that it is possible for spending by wealthier Americans to make up for sales lost from the unemployed middle class and poor.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lipstick_effect

K-shaped economy is the buzz word these days

The volume is down. What actually increased is the $$ value.

Black Friday has become Cyber Monday as well. Everyone has a phone, nobody is waiting to log on to their PC at work to do some online shopping.

The holiday season on the whole is a much better indicator, not just one single day. And even then, spending needs to be checked against debt incurred.

I didn't buy shit on purpose this weekend, like every year and like most weekends. Some people do that. I wish more would.

Don’t underestimate credit cards and consumerism.

The market is diverging with people who are in the upper echelons having money to spend and everyone else having nothing.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/economy/2025/11/25/us-e...

The K shaped economy.

Pop growth of ca .5 pct and inflation delivered said record

Not necessarily. Lots of explanations:

(1) People wait for when they perceive they'll get the best deals to do their shopping. (2) K-shaped economy (data is already bearing this out btw): Spending from the wealthy is driving consumption figures vs. the bulk of the population (3) Anxiety about rising prices cause people to purchase now vs. later. See for example RAM prices.

One of the truly great things about American toxic individualism is that it need not be constrained by rationality; American capitalism finds ways around that. Need to Christmas shop for everyone in your family but don't have enough actual income? Simply go into massive credit card debt! You're probably pre-approved for several cards already; check for our flyer!