2008年12月5日
作者：Darrell Rigby, Kris Miller

官方报道：星期一，国家经济研究局宣布自2007年12月以来，美国经济持续衰退。不过在这个零售业昏暗的一年和节假日之际，感恩节周末的销售额比预计的要好。然而，单单一个周末的优秀数据，并不能改变历史上最差的节假日销售额的事实。11月，相同门店的销售额增长为35年中的最低值。在此之前宣布的第三季度结果也非常令人失望。

It's official: On Monday the National Bureau of Economic Research announced that the US economy has been in a recession since December 2007. But in what has been a lackluster year and holiday season for retailers so far, the Thanksgiving weekend provided better-than-expected results. It is unlikely, however, that one positive weekend will be enough to overcome what could turn into the worst holiday season on record. November same-store sales growth was the lowest in over 35 years. This followed the recent release of largely disappointing third-quarter results. Even online sales are suffering, with slowing growth since May that turned negative for the first time ever in November. And ongoing macroeconomic deterioration makes continued sales declines a possibility. Though there were pockets of good news such as a slight increase in consumer confidence and falling gas prices, unemployment reached a 15-year high in November, following its fifth straight monthly increase.