Shoppers spent 13 percent more during the four-day U.S. Thanksgiving weekend, heading to stores and jumping online to push Black Friday beyond a one-day extravaganza, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. Spending rose to $59.1 billion from Nov. 22 through today from $52.4 billion last year, the National Retail Federation said in a statement. The jump occurred even as Chicago-based researcher ShopperTrak observed a 1.8 percent decline in sales on Black Friday, the traditional start to the shopping season.
