12-11-27 Great Thanksgiving retail data... are they real?

Here is the summary of the Thanksgiving sales data from recent years, copied from Wikipedia. 

Retail sales for the weekend roese almost 50% from 2008 to 2012 (not corrected for inflation).  I just don't understand all the talk about recession/depression, disastrous unemployment rates with such amazing expansion.

Unless the data should not be trusted...

 jz

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The National Retail Federation releases figures on the sales for each Thanksgiving weekend.

Year	Date	Survey Published			Total Spent
2012	Nov 22	Nov 25			$59.1 billion
2011	Nov 24	Nov 27			$52.5 billion
2010	Nov 25	Nov 28			$45.0 billion
2009	Nov 26	Nov 29			$41.2 billion
2008	Nov 27	Nov 30			$41.0 billion

12-11-27 Catalonia elections - a win for the drive for independence

Catalonia election: Separatists win majority

Catalan President Artur Mas says he will consult the people on independence within four years

Continue reading the main story

Catalonia's Future

• 'Force a change'
• Catalonia profile
• Uncharted waters for Catalonia
• Catalans weigh their future

Voters in Spain's Catalonia region have given a majority to parties seeking Catalan independence.

However, Catalan President Artur Mas, who called the early election and pushed for independence, lost seats.

His centre-right CiU remains the largest bloc, winning 50 seats out of 135, down from 62 last time.

The left-wing separatist ERC won 21 seats. But a BBC correspondent says despite their combined majority, the parties may be unable to work together.

READ MORE:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-20482719