NPR News: 12-26-2025 8PM EST
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Live from NPR News, I'm Janine Herbst. The biggest holiday in terms of spending is over, and despite low consumer confidence, people appear to have opened their wallets. NPR's Alina Selyuk has more.
What were the holiday spending trends despite low consumer confidence?
We don't have total numbers. Those will come in January. But all signs seem to point to a surprisingly big year. You know, for how much we've talked about tariffs, with all the delays and changes, they did not disrupt the holiday season as much as feared. We saw Black Friday set a record. Then Cyber Monday set a spending record. Adobe Analytics, which tracks online shopping, saw people spending over $10 million every minute on the evening of Cyber Monday. MasterCard, which tracks spending online and in stores, estimates that spending grew nearly 4% in November and December.
And here's Alina Selyuk reporting. Overall, economists and companies aren't too down on next year because so far, growing wages has fueled much of the shopping. But economists say they will keep a close eye on the job market in 2026. Parts of the Upper Midwest and the Northeast are expecting snowstorms this weekend. Rob Lane from member station WBUR in Boston reports the conditions could make holiday travel perilous.
The storms will bring the first major snowfall of the year to some parts of the country. Mark Shieldrop of AAA Northeast says people should be careful on the road. He expects many drivers won't yet have switched to winter tires, and may be out of practice in terms of dealing with longer stopping distances.
They follow too closely, they're going too quickly, and... Unexpected things happen on the road and you have to make an abrupt stop and that's when bad things happen.
Shield drop adds an extra word of caution that even on plowed roads, cold pavement can affect tire traction. For NPR News, I'm Rob Lane in Boston.
This week, Energy Secretary Chris Wright ordered two Indiana coal plants to remain open past their scheduled closure dates. As NPR's Julia Simon reports, it's part of the broader Trump administration's push to support the coal industry.
When President Trump took Christmas Eve calls from children this week, the president asked a kid what she wanted from Santa.
Not coal. Not coal. And then... You mean clean, beautiful coal. I had to do that, I'm sorry. No, coal is clean and beautiful. Please remember that.
Coal produces more planet heating carbon dioxide than any other energy source. The move to keep coal plants open is the latest in a string of Trump administration actions to protect the struggling U.S. coal industry. Energy from coal is now more expensive than energy from large solar and wind projects. And 2025 was the first year that the U.S. produced more electricity from renewable energy than coal. Julia Simon, NPR News.
You're listening to NPR News from Washington. In California, flood watches and advisories remain in effect through much of the state as more rain is forecast after a storm that soaked the region for the past several days left flooded roads, downed trees and mudslides. Some communities are still under evacuation orders, including parts of Los Angeles County. Other evacuation orders have been lifted. Carbon Canyon in Orange County was closed for a time in both directions this morning because of falling rocks. Hollywood got a present it wasn't expecting for Christmas. NPR's Bob Mondello has more.
Film industry observers are pretty good at estimating how movies will do at the box office. They crunch advertising, exit polls, social media reach. But how do you crunch a publicity stunt? Avatar Fire and Ash was always expected to lead Christmas week. And Timothee Chalamet's ping-pong movie, Marty Supreme, It's only a matter of time before I'm staring at you from the cover of a Wheaties box. was expected to fall in the middle of the also-rans. Instead, it's leading the also-rans, at least partly because earlier this week, looking terrified, Chalamet climbed atop the 366-foot-high Las Vegas Sphere to yell, Marty Supreme is an American film that comes out on Christmas Day!
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