Christmas sales figures are the best in at least five years

Despite lots of worry and hand-wringing by retailers 🐲over a slow start to the Christmas shopping season, US consumers, in the end, increased spending even more than last year.

Even the Dec. 18 opening of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” — which hoovered up $391 million in tickets sales before Christmas — couldn’t stop the mighty shopper from its strongest showing in at leas🤪t five years, a report out Monday revealed.

From Black Friday to Christmas Eve, shoppers spent 7.9 percent ꦚmore than they did in last year’s comparable period, according to MasterCard SpendingPulse, which tracks US retail sales trends acro꧂ss payment cards, cash and checks.

Last year’s increase was 5.5 percent.

“The consumer is feeling confident and roaring back, investing in their homes and lifestyles,” said Sarah Quinlan, senior♏ vice🐠 president of MasterCard Advisors.

Among the telltale signs tha♈t consumers are feeling flush is the fact that they are spending on big-ticket items like furniture, which rose by double digits.

Moreover, shoppers were willing to purchase items th𓃲💙at are not heavily discounted, as evidenced by spending at small businesses — those ringing up $50 million or less in annual sales — which can’t offer the deep discounts of a big-box retailer.

Small retail spending gr🍨ew by 7.5 percent in November compared with total retail sales growth of 4.6 percent during the same period, according to MasterCard.

Women’s apparel also spiked by double digits, despite a sluggish start to the shopping se🌌ason due to warm weather trends throughout the Northeast.

Men’s apparel declined significantly.

“Women, who account for 75 percent of total sales, chose not to buy men’s clothing this year,” Quinlan said, “deciding instead to buy things like a new living ✤room set.”

Sales of electronics also declined this season, 🌠in part because prices dropped.

While more people shopped online this 🌌year, e-commerce is still a fraction of total spending.

Online spending rose by 20 percent from Black Friday ༒to Christmas Eve, accounting for 10 percent of total sales.

And the shopping season is hardly over, according to investment bank Nomura, which reports that Dec. 26 “amounted to one of the busiest shopping days of the year — on par w𒐪ith Black Friday and Super Sa🃏turday.”

Among the bigg🐽est winners in the Nomura spot check were Macy’s, JCPenney, Nordstr✃om and UGG, driven by heavy discounts.

🔯“Promo🍃tional activity this weekend,” Nomura reports, “was the widest and deepest seen so far.”