Thanksgiving boosts electronics

Consumer electronics sales rose 8.5% Thanksgiving week from a year earlier, led by sales of portable music players such as Apple’s iPod, market researcher NPD Group said yesterday.

Sales of portable audio devices rose 43% in the week ending November 27, which included Black Friday, the traditional start of the holiday-shopping season.

Other leading electronics categories included mobile audio, which rose 27%, boosted by satellite radio, and televisions, which climbed 21%.