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It's Black Friday in the USA and it's nothing to do with , but it will be a sign of whether Americans still feel in the red.

To British ears, the phrase "Black Friday" sounds ominous, redolent of financial or some other crisis.

But in America the words don't ring alarm bells, unless you are one of those rare creatures who loathes shopping. is like the British January sales squeezed into one day. The Friday following Thanksgiving is not a public holiday, but few people are at work today. There are five other people on the usually crowded bus this morning and the streets around the ´óÏó´«Ã½ office are as deserted as some Western ghost town.

But it'll be more like the Gold Rush in the out-of-town malls where bargain hunters turn out in force as stores slash their prices. One couple, who met while queuing for bargains a few years ago, to mark the day.

Consumer confidence is a really important part of any economic recovery, indeed the nickname comes about because it's the day when retailers' figures start to go into the black, into credit. But last year's sales figures were dismally disappointing as the credit crunch bit home.

By the end of the day, shops in the States will have a good feel for the way the economy is heading, but doesn't suggest there'll be great news for America's retailers.

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