U.S. employers have continued to hire at a steady clip bringing the jobless rate down to its lowest level in nine years. That’s good news for toy manufacturers as ‘Sell Through Season’ is going strong with total retail sales up sharply.

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Foot traffic at stores has been somewhat thinner than the frenzied human herds of years past after retailers began offering discounts as early as Halloween and many Thanksgiving weekend promotions were also available online. Many Americans feel that it’s easier to shop from the sofa rather than to fight one’s way through the mall.

Reduced crowds meant reduced violence which can only be a good thing. That said, there did seem to be an increase in parking lot gunfights so you will still not see me anywhere near a retail outlet on that particular weekend. College kids promoting “Black Friday Brawl” videos online were left offering mostly tame fare and even resorted to posting previous years’ hooliganism under this year’s banner. There was a much shown wild melee in Modesto, California but if you watched it, you would have seen that those kids didn’t know how to throw a punch.

Sales of Hatchimals, Nerf guns, Star Wars Drones, and 4K TVs seem to be driving holiday sales but there is more than enough volume to go around. Here’s to a strong continued sell through season! Strong sell through makes toy companies happy. Happy companies hire. Here at Toyjobs, we like that.

(Sell through) Seasons Greetings,

Tom Keoughan