Survey: Luxury Up 8% in June, Jewelry Showed Strength and Weakness

The De Beers Jewelry Store on Rodeo Drive in Los Angeles.

In its ninth consecutive month of year-over-year gains, the SpendingPulse Luxury Index (excluding Jewelry) for June was up 8.2 percent, more in line with first quarter of the year and better than the 4.7 percent gains seen in May 2011, according to MasterCard Advisors SpendingPulse, a macroeconomic report tracking national retail and

Holiday e-Commerce Spending Sets New Record

Retail e-commerce spending for the November–December 2010 holiday season reached $32.6 billion, marking a 12-percent increase versus last year and an all-time record for the season, according to comScore Inc.“The 2010 online holiday shopping season was a memorable one in which we saw spending rebound strongly from the recession of 2008 and 2009, and slightly exceed even our early expectations,”