Economic gloom, as expected, dragged down Christmas sales at retailers throughout the U.S., with discounters like Wal-Mart, luxury vendors like Neiman Marcus and pretty much everybody in between saying today that their holiday season results were poorer than expected.

Some hefted their luggage on bamboo shoulder poles. Others carried their things in plastic buckets. All were migrant workers hurrying to get home Thursday before China's Lunar New Year festival — a holiday that triggers one of the world's biggest annual migrations of humans.

The nation?s retail chains confirmed Thursday that they suffered one of the worst holiday shopping seasons in decades.

In what was a dismal holiday season for many store chains, video game retailer GameStop Corp. proved an exception.

It was one of the worst holiday shopping seasons in decades, with most stores reporting sales declines and many, including Wal-Mart, lowering their earnings guidance.

Retail chains confirmed Thursday that they suffered one of the worst holiday shopping seasons in decades.

A holiday company has changed its pricing policy after an investigation by the BBC's Working Lunch programme.

GameStop Corp. says same-store sales during the 2008 holiday season rose 10%, aided by strong sales of new video software games.