Black Friday Sales Jump 6% vs. 2005

U.S. retail sales posted a healthy year-over-year gain on Black Friday, according to one national survey of mall-based stores.

Sales grew 6% to $8.96 billion from the same day a year before, according to estimates from ShopperTrak RCT, a Chicago-based research group that tracks sales at 45,000 locatiions around the country.

The day after Thanksgiving, known as Black Friday to retailers, marks the traditional start of the holiday shopping season, and retailers and market participants often look to it as an indicator of how the season will shape up. ShopperTrak noted, however, that Black Friday results are not always a reliable gauge. ...