Analysis: Black Friday behind November sales jump

Underlying sales rise was biggest for a year, official figures show

Christmas shopping at nightime on Henry Street, Dublin. Pic: RollingNews.ie

New figures appear to bear out indications from retail groups that the increasing importance of Black Friday led to an upsurge in consumer spending in November.

The Central Statistics Office said this morning that the volume of retail sales in November rose by 0.9 per cent compared with October, giving an annual increase of 4.3 per cent.

The November increase follows three consecutive monthly falls.

As the overall figure can be distorted by ...