Evening network broadcasts on the day after Christmas whined that a 6.5-percent increase in holiday spending for 2006 simply wasn’t enough. Ironically, only a month earlier CBS complained that Americans weren’t saving enough money. My colleague Julia Seymour wrote about the “humbug” attitudes of ABC, NBC and CBS here.
“Stores need more than returnees to turn this so-so Christmas shopping season into one to celebrate,” said Bill Whitaker during the CBS “Evening News.” Later Whitaker added that “in December the sizzle fizzled.”
But on Black Friday, CBS was singing a different Christmas tune:
In 2006, the personal savings rate average was negative 0.6 percent. “The personal savings rate hasn’t dipped so low since the Great Depression,” said reporter Sandra Hughes.
