By Bro. Cedric Muhammad

The Context

In The American Economy:

• Combined Holiday Spending contributes $750,000,000,000 (3/4s of $1 Trillion)
• Spending In Between November and December contributes $602,100,000,000 (30% of Annual Retail Sales)
• Blacks Spend 71% More On Video Games Than Whites
• Blacks Shop More Often At Department Stores, Toy Stores and Convenience Stores (Source on Black Spending Patterns: http://sites.nielsen.com/africanamericans/ )

The Numbers

Government Economic Data:

–     In December 2015 retail sales fell $700 million or 0.1% from the previous month

–     In the 4th Quarter of 2015 (the months of October, November and December) Gross Domestic Product (GDP) — the value of the goods and services produced by the nation’s economy minus the value of the goods and services used up in production, — increased at an annual rate of only 0.7 percent in the 4th quarter of 2015. This is down from the 3rd quarter, when GDP increased 2.0 percent. (Source: https://www.commerce.gov/economicindicators )

Sales Reports: The National Retail Federation reported that sales during November and December increased 3% to $625.9 billion, below the forecasted 3.7% growth and under the 4.1% increase of the 2014 holiday season. (Source: https://nrf.com/news/retail-holiday-sales-increase-3-percent ).

The Weather: National Retail Federation Chief Economist Jack Kleinhenz said, “The results of December’s retail sales remind us just how significant of an impact unusual weather can have on retail and overall economic activity.”

The Message:

The primary theme for the Christmas boycott was “Up With Jesus, Down With Santa” [Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, November 17, 2015 http://www.finalcall.com/artman/publish/National_News_2/article_102721.shtml ]

In polling by Rasmussen Reports on December 8th and 9th in 2014, to the statement “Christmas should be more about…” Black Americans said the holiday should be more about: Jesus – 73%; Santa – 15%; Not Sure – 11% This compares with 87% support for Jesus by Black Americans in a poll taken by Rasmussen on Dec. 6th and 7th, of 2015 and only 4% support for Santa.

Impact– In Black America support for Jesus went up 14% in just 1 year while Santa went down 11% in just 1 year.

(Source: http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/lifestyle/holidays/december_2015/americans_want_to_ keep_christ_in_christmas )

 

Selected Data By Industry/Store/Product Disproportionately Consumed By Blacks)

Smartphones

Apple – iPhone sales grew at the slowest pace since 2007 and Apple forecasts that revenue in the current quarter will decline for the first time in 13 years. The slowdown in iPhone sales, which account for roughly two-thirds of Apple’s revenue, raises questions about Apple’s growth.

(Source: http://www.wsj.com/articles/apple-reports-slowing-growth-in-iphone-sales-1453843920 )

Department Stores

Best Buy – Holiday sales declined as the retailer sold fewer smartphones than expected. Domestic sales over the nine weeks through Jan. 2 fell 1.2%.

(Source:     http://www.wsj.com/articles/best-buy-cuts-guidance-after-holiday-season-sales-decline- 1452775862 )

Macy’s – Announced plans to lay off 4,350 employees due to disappointing holiday sales. The company said sales in the critical November and December period slumped by a worse-than- expected 5%. It blamed the “historically warm weather” in northern climates. Macy’s said about 80% of its sales declines can be attributed to shortfalls in cold-weather goods like coats, sweaters, hats, gloves and scarves.

 

(Source: http://money.cnn.com/2016/01/06/investing/macys-cuts-3000-jobs-holiday-sales/ )

Sears – Comparable-store sales in the 4th quarter dropped 6.9 percent at Sears, and 7.2 percent at Kmart, which the company also owns. Sears has accelerated plans to close 50 stores and it expects total revenue to hit $7.3 billion for the fourth quarter — down from $8.1 billion last year.

(Source: http://money.cnn.com/2016/02/09/news/companies/sears-kmart-stores-closing/ )

Automobiles

Real spending on motor vehicles and parts fell a seasonally adjusted $5.2 billion—wiping 0.58 percentage point off 4th quarter GDP after adding about a percentage point to output over the first three quarters of the year.

(Source: http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2016/02/02/how-auto-sales-may-dent-u-s-growth/ )

Video Games

Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. is the maker of the popular NBA 2K16 game. For the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2015, Take-Two reported net revenue of $414.2 million, down from $531.1 million from the same period last year. The company posted a net loss of $42.4 million.

(Source:     http://www.ibtimes.com/take-two-interactive-software-inc-ttwo-fiscal-q3-beats-street- strong-gta-v-sales-2292873 )