IBM

New York - The holiday shopping season got off to a positive if unspectacular start, according to preliminary results from the Black Friday weekend.  The number of people who shopped at stores and online between Thursday and Sunday was up 8.7% to 212 million shoppers, according to a National Retail Federation survey of 4,306 shoppers conducted by BIGresearch. The total amount spent during the four-day weekend reached an estimated $45 billion, with the average spending rising 6.4% to $365.34, the survey showed.