Retail Sales, Including Electronics, Jumped in November

Both government and private research found that November was a highly successful month nationwide for retail, with the U.S. Commerce Department reporting big gains for retail in general, while the NPD Group reported that specific sectors of electronics, especially gaming, had a strong month as well.

According to MarketWatch, retail sales jumped 1.2 percent in November, for the biggest gain of its kind in six months. The gain was better than expectations; Wall Street had predicted a rise of .7 percent.

Meanwhile, the gaming sector, both hardware and software, had a huge November. According to NPD Group statistics cited by the Wall Street Journal, game software sales jumped 62 percent to $1.3 billion, with sales of hardware jumped 42 percent from the same period a year ago. These gains were attributed to the continued popularity of the Nintendo Wii, the more recent resurgence of the Sony PlayStation 3, and the popularity of such games as “Guitar Hero 3” and “Call of Duty 4.”