US consumers boost spending over vital holiday shopping season

US consumers boosted their spending in November as the key holiday shopping season began, drawing from rising incomes to add their buying power to a slow but steady expansion, a government report showed.

Spending climbed by 0.5% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $7.413 trillion last month after a 0.4% rise in October, the Commerce Department said.

That was a promising beginning for the vital Thanksgiving-to-Christmas shopping season though final weekend reports from retailers have been mixed. Retailers rely heavily upon the period to bolster their annual sales and profits.