Black Friday sales were better than expected but experts say, the success of retailers’ sales is short lived and bittersweet. The National Retail Federation estimated that consumers spent $372.57 on average, an increase from 7.2 percent from a year ago, according to CNN.com. However, these statistics aren’t comparable to the holiday season as a whole, but only the sales of Black Friday. Furthermore, the article states, “NRF is predicting just a 2.2 percent increase in holiday shopping sales this year, which would be the smallest increase since 2002.” A suffering economy may push some mainstream retailers into unexpected bankruptcy, which would further diminish job opportunities, especially for working college students.
Considering that last Thanksgiving landed on Nov. 22, almost an entire week proceeding this holiday, Nov. 27, consumers had five weeks instead of four to shop for last year’s holiday bargains. With the influx of food prices, and decrease in gas prices, people hungry for great holiday deals were even more eager to shop on Black Friday because they are trying to capitalize on the value of a dollar, rather than expending them more quickly with more expensive purchases.
Meanwhile, the economy isn’t the only concern, for students that is. 65 out of 100 college students attributed additional stress to their jobs, according to the study, Stress and College Students with Jobs, administered by April Cochran of the Department of Psychology at Missouri Western State University. Trockel, Barnes, and Egget (2000) took a random sample of 200 students and found that there was a relationship with the number of hours worked per week and lower grade point averages. Students who have to work are being deprived of study time they would otherwise have. This holiday season could be a final straw for students struggling to balance academics, employment and purchase holiday gifts for friends and loved ones. Bnet.com also reported a poll given by MonsterTrak.com, a leading networking site for college students and working professionals seeking employment, stated, “A staggering 82 percent of MonsterTRAK users and 66 percent of Monster.com users are interested in obtaining a job this holiday season.” Chelsea Richardson, freshman in the transition program “All my gifts will be more thought out and planned, I won’t be able to purchase the ‘extras’ I normally buy.” “Because of the economy, I spend more money on the necessities, therefore I buy cheaper items for the holidays” Lynette Hill, freshman in Education.
