"Shopping for holiday gifts is becoming more and more challenging because the prices of all goods have gone up!" The sentiments of Mary Leffler, a resident of North Carolina, represent the sentiments of many working class people. High inflation and soaring interest rates have overshadowed this year's Black Friday shopping day in the United States.

　　"Black Friday" is the start of the month-long holiday shopping season in the United States. The day, the United States of America major businesses focus on discount sales, to attract consumers to buy cheap and desired goods. 25 November is this year's "Black Friday". The reporter found in an outlet mall in Virginia on that day, unlike the previous scene of Americans "buying" at will, the shops with slightly smaller discounts were deserted.

　　The 25-year-old Hispanic guy Hernandez told reporters that most of his income this year was spent on food and gasoline, "If it weren't for the discounts at these shops at more than 50 percent, I wouldn't have been able to buy".

　　US consumers are becoming more budget-conscious, partly due to shrinking salaries and rising debts, and partly due to the price pressures brought on by high inflation.

　　Data released by Moody's Analytics showed that US households spent $433 more on the same goods and services in October compared to the same month last year, but the average hourly wage, excluding inflation, shrank by 2.8% in the first 10 months of the year. Data released earlier in November by the US Department of Labor showed that the US Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose by 0.4% in October from a year earlier and by 7.7% from a year earlier.

　　Higher spending and lower incomes have reduced the purchasing power of US consumers significantly. Against this backdrop, total US household debt soared by US$351 billion in the third quarter of this year, the largest increase since 2007.

　　The University of Michigan recently released survey data show that in November the U.S. consumer confidence index fell 5.2% from a year earlier, down 15.7% year-on-year.

　　A recent NBC survey showed that 67% of respondents said it was difficult to buy what they wanted because of inflation, while 69% were concerned that the recession would limit their spending power. The survey also showed that the negative impact of inflation is even more pronounced for those on low incomes.

　　Among US consumers, young people with fewer years of work and less wealth are having a particularly hard time. According to the NBC survey, 73% of 18 to 34 year olds are concerned that inflation will prevent them from buying the items they want. Jay Schottenstein, chief executive of American Eagle Apparel, a fashion clothing brand aimed primarily at younger consumers, also said that inflation was having a more significant impact on young people and that the company was having to come up with bigger promotions than ever before in order to attract consumers.

　　Consumers are having a hard time and businesses are feeling the pressure. In terms of figures, many organisations are predicting a small increase in sales this year, year-on-year, for the holiday shopping season. However, if inflation is taken into account, actual sales may not be as high as last year.

　　Retailers such as Walmart, Target and Amazon have said that higher food and gas prices have "strained" household budgets, resulting in lower sales of toys, furniture and small appliances than in the past. Many retailers have lowered their sales expectations for this year's holiday shopping season.

　　Macy's chief executive Jeff Kinnett found that since the end of October, customers generally "shopped but not bought". John Rainey, chief financial officer of Wal-Mart, pointed out that due to the reduction of savings, many low-income Americans can not even afford the necessities of life, and will not buy non-essential goods.