Holiday Sales Up 3.6%

Retail holiday sales ticked up this year for a 3.6% improvement over 2008's disastrous showing. The modestly improved overall picture included a 15.5% surge in online shopping, thanks in part to snowstorms that stranded many shoppers at home the week before Christmas, as well as an almost 6% rise at specialty electronics chains, Reuters reports.

Wall Street bonuses and the stock market's 2009 rally pushed jewelry sales up 5.6%, while luxury sales, especially hard-hit last year, inched up 0.8%. "Last year the economy and consumer spending were in free fall. This year we're talking about an environment that has stabilized, that has seen a leveling off," a consumer spending expert says.