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Holiday Sales Seen as 'Uneven'

NEW YORK — This year's holiday-shopping season was marked by deal-seeking consumer behavior and two sharp spikes in spending, one early in the season and one late, according to a report Wednesday.

Sales during the week that ended Dec. 24 rose 4.5% compared with last year, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers-Goldman Sachs Weekly Chain Store Sales Index. Sales also rose sharply in the week that ended Nov. 26, which includes the Friday after Thanksgiving, according to the ICSC index and other reports.

However, the pace of sales growth slowed in early December, the ICSC reported. Overall the group said sales for the season in total were expected to be in-line with previous projections, an increase of about 3.5% over 2010 levels.

"The holiday season was good but uneven," Michael P. Niemira, chief economist at the ICSC, was quoted as saying in an Associated Press report.

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