. >> reporter: i'm here at the garden state plaza mall. story for this holiday shopping season is inflation. prices 7.7% higher this year than this time last year. the question is whether or not the deals that retailers are offering are going to be fluff to bring people into the stores. i have been seeing signs 50% off, 60% off. but i have talked to people that said they don't feel like the deals are substantial enough, especially with their wallets more pinched this season. we got some preliminary data that said shopping for thanksgiving, while people eating, clocked in at $5.3 billion. that's a record. that could bode well for the beginning of the holiday spending weekend. we will see, cyber monday coming up, which could have a lot of sales as well. based off the activity here on the mall on this black friday afternoon, seems like a lot of people coming out to get into the holiday spirit. >> i will send you my list. feel free to pick and choose. >> reporter: i will. >> have a good time tonight. >>> let's turn to the weather and how it cou

high. >> well, because you can't have nothing under the christmas tree this year and here at the garden state plazaenty of people out here shopping right now, but again, that doesn't mean that no compromises are being made and as you mentioned survey data shows they will spend the same, and if you consider that things are 7.7% more expensive this year than last year, and that budget might expand across fewer gifts and i spoke to many people at the mall in some cases they're having to shop for fewer people and might only give gifts to the immediate family circle as opposed to those extended you think -- uncles or family members and dolby analytics, show thanksgiving, people at home, shopping on their phone, clocked in at 3 5$.3 billion. that is a record. that bodes pretty well for spending, and cyber monday is coming up. >> what about the protests at amazon, all over the world, protesters, amazon workers walking out? >> this is part of an international effort that they're branding as make amazon pay. this is a group that is advocating for, on a number of fronts, amazon to first pay higher wages and

they're here not necessarily for the deals but the holiday spirit, you can see that here at the garden state plaza mall. >> in addition to the holiday spirit, inflation as we are talking about is more of a toll, groceries more expensive, gas is more suspense in, the budgets are tighter, and why do people feel they have that extra money to spend on holiday gifts, brian? >> well, again, you can't have nothing necessarily under the tree, at the end of this holiday season, but at the end of the day, there are compromises that are being made. and what's interesting is despite the fact that retailers have been discounting slightly more aggressively than last year, anecdotally, people that i've spoken to at the mall here so far have said they don't find the deals that much more attractive than last year. and one reason for that might be that despite the higher discounting, they don't have the budget as they did from last year, because of the fact that they're getting squeezed, things like food, things like rent, things like gas, the things that you need, on a daily basis, getting more expensive, so the h

but i was at the mall yesterday, garden state plaza, and a lot of people coming out to shop for black friday. a few numbers for you, all this against the backdrop of high inflation. 7.7%, that is how much more expensive things are this year compared to this time last year. the ask used american budgets. we had data from delight that showed americans one of spending about 1400 $55 this holiday season, that is about the same as it was last season. of course, with everything more expensive, that means that budget is going to stretch across fewer gifts so americans say they might only be able to afford about nine gifts without budget instead of 16 as they might have spent in previous holiday shopping season's so inflation crunching on americans but that did not stop them from going out because of course you can't have nothing under the christmas show this holiday season. >> brian chung, thank you for braving the shoppers, and we appreciate your reporting. coming up, kevin mccarthy desperately wants to be speaker of the house, but how far will he go to get it. the new threats is making aga

folks, with shopping to that trip back home, and all covered beginning with nbc's emily at the garden state plaza mall in new jersey. emily, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning to you both. this holiday weekend is key for inflation-weary consumers looking to stretch their dollar furthest. already one for the record books. online sales exceed $9 billion on black friday and we witnessed robust foot track as well. lines crisscrossing malls, like this one. this morning, a resurgence of shoppers filling stores nationwide with savings in full swing. >> could not think of being anywhere else. >> reporter: and 166 million shoppers unable to resist frenzy of holiday deals, in snaking lines and packed carts. shopping merchants reporting 30% spike in sales compared to black friday last year. one illinois mall reached maximum capacity actually turning shoppers away. [ chanting ] meantime, sentiment growing at amazon, walkouts and protests call for better wages on the biggest shopping day of the year. yesterday's online sales are expected to exceed 9 #$9 billio. deep discounts with holiday budgets

but the pre-dawn lines at new jersey's westfield garden state plaza mall - >> we got here 4:00 a., stood in line. >> reporter: -- may be exactly what the national retail federation has been hoping for nationally, 166 million people expected to shop over the thanksgiving weekend break up by more than 8 milln from last year. >> and beyond that, we're expecting retail sales during the holiday season to grow between 6% and 8%, to $960 billion, which is also a record. >> reporter: that despite inflation's looming shadow, prices up 7.7% over this time last year. but it hasn't stopped schoolteacher holly monguso and her daughters, nor lots of others, from making their annual black friday excursions to the mall this is in no way scientific, but looking around me and looking at you, everybody has bags >> absolutely, yes. >> people are buying >> we've been on long lines waitin so that's also another thing that shows that a lot of people are here shopping. >> reporter: shopping, but many telling me in a more price-conscious manner this year. >> used to be more sales, like in recent years. but as ti