Merry Christmas Shopping - Spending Up 29% From Last Year

Gallup tracks the daily spending of Americans in real-time polls.

Here's a graph of the 3-day and 14-day rolling averages leading up to Christmas for each of the last six years, from 2008 to 2013.

Their data suggests it was a good Christmas. The 3-days leading up to Christmas were up 29% over last year, up 68% over 2008 (the start of the Great Recession). Comparing the two weeks leading up to Christmas, spending was up 17% over last year, up 32% from 2008.

["Gallup tracks daily the average dollar amount Americans report spending or charging on a daily basis, not counting the purchase of a home, motor vehicle, or normal household bills."]