TheStreet's J.D. Durkin brings the latest business headlines from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange as markets open for trading Friday, January 5th.
Full Video Transcript Below:
J.D. DURKIN: I’m J.D. Durkin - reporting from the New York Stock Exchange. Here’s what we’re watching on TheStreet today.
Investors are digesting the hotter than anticipated December jobs report. 216,000 jobs were added last month, rounding out a solid year of job gains despite persistently high interest rates. This job growth came in higher than analyst expectations of 170,000 and marks an increase from November’s 199,000 jobs. The unemployment rate held steady at 3.7 percent.
In other news - despite consumers having to deal with ongoing inflation, rising prices, and an overall shaky economy - they had no problem opening their wallets for the holidays. According to Adobe Analytics, Americans spent a record $222 billion online during the 2023 holiday season, which ran from November first through the end of December. $12.4 billion were spent on Cyber Monday, while shoppers spent almost $10 billion on Black Friday.
Promotions and deals were a big reason why consumers felt they were able to spend big for the holidays. Online shopping discounts hit record highs - with electronics seeing as much as a 31 percent discount, toy deals peaked at 28 percent off, and apparel’s high was 24 percent. All three categories had larger discounts than they did in 2022.
Buy now, pay later options also allowed Americans to spend more. Short-term financing payments increased by 14% from the last holiday shopping season, bringing in a record $16.6 billion.
That’ll do it for your daily briefing. From the New York Stock Exchange, I’m J.D. Durkin with TheStreet.
