Economic Report:

By Jesse Russell

Retailers are putting a happy spin on Black Friday noting that sales were up by 5.4 percent this year over 2006. What they are leaving out is that higher sales don’t mean more spending. According to the Los Angeles Times, 4.8 percent more people went shopping on Friday than in 2006, but they spent 3.5 percent less per person. That works out to roughly $347 per person overall.