Sales without profits for the holidays?

Solid growth in retail sales for the November and December holiday shopping season. Retail profits not so much. For November, advance estimates show retail and food services sales climbing 3.7% from November 2015, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. For December, preliminary forecasts from economists at Kiplinger see sales growth of 4.1% in 2016. That’s not as good as the 4.8% growth posted in 2014, but it would be a big step up from the 2.5% growth in 2015.