CNN Money reports that Black Friday moved tens of thousands of shoppers across the nation to:  SPEND.  Is it a sign of consumer confidence?  Or just hungry, hurting shoppers hungry for something they can afford?

Retails sales for this past Friday were over $11.4 billion in malls and stores.  That’s up six percent over last year according to CNN Money:

“This is the largest year-over-year gain in ShopperTrak’s National Retail Sales Estimate for Black Friday since the 8.3 percent increase we saw between 2007 and 2006,” said ShopperTrak founder Bill Martin. “Still, it’s just one day. It remains to be seen whether consumers will sustain this behavior through the holiday shopping season.”

However, sales have been strong throughout the entire month of November with retailers rolling out holiday deals earlier than ever. In the two weeks leading up to the week of Black Friday, retail sales were up 3.6% and 3.8%, respectively, ShopperTrak reported.

“Retailers continue to stretch out Black Friday weekend by enticing shoppers with doorbuster deals weeks in advance,” said Martin.

Online sales have also proven to be strong, with many big-box retailers and department stores offering deals online earlier this year.”

Online Shoppers Also Set Weekend Records

Another refreshing economic sign showed online sales surging by 24%.  Online sales were up 39.3% on Thanksgiving Day and 24.3% on Black Friday compared to the same days last year.

Saturday however?  Many mass merchandisers were….quiet at mid-day.

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Filed under: Economy, Featured, Inside The KC, Politics by Sonja Eddings Brown, Nov 26, 2011