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U.S. retail sales fell 0.6 percent in November from October but were up 6.5 percent year-over-year, the Department of Commerce reported. That compares with increases of 1.3 percent month over month and 8.3 percent year-over-year in October, which got a boost from earlier-than-usual holiday shopping driven by concerns that inflation would continue to increase prices.

Consumers are expected to return more than $816 billion worth of retail merchandise purchased in 2022, according to a retail report released by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Appriss Retail. As retail sales continue to grow, the average rate of return has remained flat at 16.5 percent compared with 16.6 percent in 2021.

This year, a record 158 million consumers are expected to shop on the last Saturday before Christmas, according to the annual survey released today by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Prosper Insights & Analytics. The number is approximately 10 million more than last year’s expected Super Saturday shopper count and the highest number since the NRF started tracking the data in 2016.

With most holiday merchandise on retailers’ shelves or in warehouses for the season, December cargo volume at the nation’s major container ports is forecasted to be below record levels set earlier this year, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.