Thanksgiving, Black Friday Sales Up 9 Percent

Shoppers put in a strong showing on Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday.

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Holiday spending rose 9 percent Thursday and Friday combined, compared with the same two day period last year, according to First Data.

The bump was fueled by shoppers turning to online deals.

E-commerce sales rose 10.8 percent for the two-day period, while sales at physical stores grew 8.6 percent, according to First Data, which analyzed online and in-store payments across different forms of payment cards from nearly one million merchants Thanksgiving and Friday. The data captures about 40 percent of all card transactions in the U.S. but excludes cash.