AND NOW THE GOOD NEWS....SORT OF

Weekend traffic at stores across the country after Thanksgiving rose nearly 5 percent from last Thanksgiving, with Friday getting the biggest rush, according to the National Retail Federation.

But a combination of deep discounts and tighter purse strings took a nip at average spending per consumer, which was down 3.5 percent. "Consumers are cherry-picking specific promotions and responding to incentives," analyst Colin McGranahan of Sanford C. Bernstein & Co.

Another research firm, ShopperTrak RCT Corp., estimated that sales on Friday and Saturday rose a better-than-expected 7.2 percent.

Analysts cautioned that it's too early to tell whether the early momentum will carry through the rest of the season. Sales during the Thanksgiving weekend account for only about 10 percent of total holiday sales.

The National Retail Federation projects that holiday sales will rise 4 percent from last year.

Consumer spending during the holidays is increasingly shifting online, according to the National Retail Federation, which projects that consumers will do more than 30 percent of their holiday shopping on Web sites.

ComScore said online purchases from Nov. 1 through Friday were up 17 percent from last year, reaching $9.3 billion. Consumer purchases rose 29 percent on Thanksgiving and 22 percent on Friday.

Atlanta-based Home Depot said last year's Cyber Monday produced its heaviest online traffic for the year and was hoping for a repeat.

Online sales of furniture, appliances and equipment are up 36 percent during November over last year, according to ComScore, beaten only by video games and accessories, which are up 134 percent.