Dec242014
Posted at 12:40 PM
This festive season, or simply the holidays, is a time for gathering and celebrating with family and friends, gift giving, reflection and thanks. To commemorate this time of year, the U.S. Census Bureau presents the following holiday-related facts and figures from its collection of statistics.
$24.4 billion
Estimated retail sales by the nation’s department stores (including leased departments) in December 2013. This represents an estimated 40.9 percent jump from the previous month when retail sales were estimated at 17.3 billion. No other month-to-month increase in department store sales last year was as large.
13.9%
The estimated percentage of total 2013 sales for department stores (including leased departments) in December. For jewelry stores, the estimated percentage was 19.1 percent.
$44.5 billion
Estimated value of retail sales by electronic shopping and mail-order houses in December 2013 — the highest total for any month last year.
$1.0 billion
The value of U.S. imports of Christmas tree ornaments from China between January and September 2014. China was the leading country of origin for such items. Similarly, China was the leading foreign source of artificial Christmas trees shipped to the United States ($137.5 million worth) during the same period.
563
The number of locations that primarily produced dolls, toys, and games in 2012; they employed 7,481 workers in the pay period including March 12. California led the nation with 95 establishments.
For more information and other key statistics on the holidays, please go to the latest issue of the Census Bureau's Facts for Features.
