国际英语新闻：Consumers warm up to holiday shopping season

NEW YORK, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Chilly wind and rain showers didn 't cool off people's enthusiasm for deep cuts and big discounts on Black Friday. And in-store traffic and sales suggested that, despite a sluggish economic recovery, U.S. consumers are willing to spend more in this year's holiday season.

As the official start of the year-end holiday shopping season, Black Friday is the day when retailers hope to swing to profit and write the book in black ink. Consumers would line up from Thursday night to grab lucrative door-buster deals.

"I went shopping at four in the morning. I spent a lot," Mo Bhuiya, a sales assistant at Sprint, told Xinhua reporter outside New York's high-end department store Bloomingdales. "I bought this jacket," he pointed to a brand-new leather jacket he was wearing.

Shoppers make their way through a packed Target store in Lanesborough, Massachusetts November 26, 2010. U.S. shoppers searched for deals on high-definition televisions and popular toys early on Friday, as retailers hoped that "Black Friday" would kick off the best holiday shopping season in three years.

Mo said he went to 34th Street in Manhattan, where there are a lot of different shops including the largest store Macy's. And wherever he went, it was so crowded. "You never see that many people that early in the morning," he said.

Usually sales made from now to end of December account for 25 to 40 percent of total annual sales. After the past two dismay holiday seasons in 2008 and 2009, when the recession made everyone hold on tight to their purses, retailers are expecting a "warmer" winter this year. And they have given out attractive early-bird deals to lure customers, home or abroad.

Canadian tourist Wendy Spivak told Xinhua reporter that she probably would spend more on buying holiday presents than last year. "Judging from the amount of people around, I'd say that there are some money (pouring in). People are obviously buying," Spivak said.

According to a recently survey, 31 percent families will go shopping on Black Friday, higher than last year's 26 percent. The U.S. National Retail Federation (NRF) predicted earlier this week that American families will spend an average of 690 U.S. dollars shopping during this year's holiday season, up from last year's 680 dollars.

According to NRF forecast, retail sale is expected to grow 2.3 percent in this year's holiday season. Even though the growth is lower than the ten-year average of 2.5 percent, it is still better than the 3.4 percent slump in 2008 and 1 percent climb in 2009. Personal spending accounts for two thirds of U.S. economy.

Earlier this month the Federal Reserve has lowered expectation of this year's economic growth rate to 2.4 to 2.5 percent from 3.0 to 3.5 percent. But the heating-up sentiment among consumers may shed some light on gloomy picture.

"It (the business) has improved. It is way better than last year," said Bhuiya, who has been giving out Sprint's holiday promotion ads on Lexington Avenue on Friday.

"I think this year the deals are better and I definitely will spend more money than last year," Christina Wang, a young financial service professional, told reporter.

She and two friends went to major stores like Saks Fifth Avenue and found some good buys. Bloomingdales has seen much more traffic on Friday, "quite busy day" as a sales assistant put it. She said the "get 15 dollars for every 100 dollars" promotion has attracted many customers. On the second floor, about 30 people lined up, all holding their receipts and waiting to get the gift card that could be used later in the store again.