Retailers appear to have been rescued at the last minute, according to data from the International Council of Shopping Centers. Shoppers looking for deals the week before Christmas -- and making up for the day lost to stormy weather on the East Coast -- spent aggressively, sparing the retail sector a dismal 2008-like performance.

The healthy conclusion to the holiday season led to a positive change from November and made December one of only three months (including September and October) in which retail sales increased year-over-year.

This week, the world's top retailers will tell investors how the much-discussed holiday season went. Analysts expect a year-over-year gain of 1.3% for stores open at least a year, which of course uses a dismal 2008 as a benchmark.

The holiday shopping season is the last chance retailers get to pump up their financial statements before the close of their fiscal year, which usually comes at the end of January. For some retailers, up to 40% of their revenue comes in the weeks heading into Christmas.

The holidays have ended, and the real sales have begun. Those choosing to sacrifice sentimentality for savings found retailers only too willing to help, as prices were slashed in the wake of the Christmas rush. Recipients of gift cards stand to see their purchasing power extended, as well, now that redemption time has arrived, and retailers are looking to squeeze in any extra sales they can to pump up their top lines before the books close on the fiscal year, which, for many, comes at the end of January.

Toys "R" Us has offered a deal on Nintendo (NTDOY) Wii games, with the second coming at half price, and Target (TGT) is nearly halving the price of wine glasses and dropping the tag on an argyle women's sweater by nearly a third. Walmart (WMT), which kicked off its cuts at the end of September, is throwing a $50 gift card on top of any Microsoft (MSFT) Xbox 360 buy.

For retailers, it doesn't get bigger than the holiday season, but even a raving success may not be enough to push an uneasy economy on the road to recovery. Basically, the retail sector has to do well to keep people from worrying more, but we'll all have to wait a while for some economic bliss. According to an MSNBC report, gift sales aren't as powerful as many believe.

So, here are five reasons why a great visit from Santa won't be enough to kick-start the economy:

There might be something extra in your paycheck this month. A survey of 100 human resource executives, conducted by Challenger, Gray & Christmas, found that 64% of companies are planning to pay holiday bonuses this year, even though they're still worried about expenses in a market that remains difficult. We've clearly come a long way over the past 12 months. Hiring may not have resumed yet, but at least employers are showing that they appreciate their employees ... and are worried about losing them. At this time last year, only 54% were planning to toss a little extra to the staff for the holidays.

And, the bonus checks are getting bigger, at least for a few people. Eight percent of respondents indicated that they are amping up bonus pay, compared to none a year ago. But, 16% say they aren't paying bonuses this year, up from 13% in December 2008. Another 4% are cutting bonus check sizes.

Every day, it's becoming clearer that e-readers will be the hot holiday gifts of 2009. Amazon (AMZN) is obviously in the game with its Kindle, with which it took an early lead in the industry. Barnes & Noble (BKS) has made a play with its new Nook reader, applying some pressure to what was once a wide open space.

Even though we're still short of Black Friday, the weeding process has begun. Sony (SNE), which is also in the e-reader market, has revealed that it makes no guarantees about delivery by Christmas.

Retailers may lose a revenue lever to pull this upcoming holiday shopping season ... and it could be a big one. The number of shoppers expected to opt for gift cards rather than traditional purchased goods is likely to increase this year, as nobody wants to waste money on a loser present in a tough financial environment.

Gift cards make that problem go away, but flexibility isn't free. Retailers have tacked on a variety of fees to bring in a bit of extra cash from gift card sales, but if the U.S. Federal Reserve gets its way, these fees will be forced sharply lower.

Retail hiring for the holiday shopping season was expected to be slow, and now we have the data to confirm it. According to data from Bureau of Labor Statistics (supplied to BloggingStocks by Challenger, Gray & Christmas), the retail sector added only 63,500 jobs in October -- in data that appropriately was not seasonally adjusted.

This is only slightly better than the 59,100 retail jobs added in October 2008. In the fourth quarter of last year, retail employment increased by a mere 384,300 jobs, with the retail industry turning in its worst holiday shopping season employment stats since 1989 (when it added 380,500 workers).

Consumer spending had its largest fall this year, thanks to the end of the "Cash for Clunkers" program. And, incomes were flat. No change to the money coming in and a drop in the cash going out translates to an impediment to economic recovery.

In September, consumer spending fell 0.5%, the first decline in five months and the worst in nine. Wages and salaries dropped 0.2%, effectively offsetting the 0.2% up-tick in August. The economy did grow in the third quarter of 2009, hinting that the worst recession in 70 years may be coming to a close, but the tough September suggests we still have some work in front of us.

There's bad news and good news on the Broadway strike front.

First the bad news: Unless there's a sudden change in the negotiating stance by the League of American Theatres and Producers or the striking Local 1 of International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, the strike is not likely to be resolved for at least another two weeks, possibly three weeks, industry analysts estimate, and The Associated Press reported. (The strike has shut down more than 24 Broadway plays and musicals since November 10.)

The reason? Two weeks is the length of time it would probably take to exhaust both the owners'/producers' patience regarding losses and the unions' $4.1 million contingency fund. Of course, each strike/job action is unique, but if historical precedent is any indicator, labor and management begin to get serious about resolving a strike when each begins to incur unacceptable losses, Reuters reported.

Now the good news: Strike talks resumed Sunday, and with any luck the neon lights may be back on "On Broadway" in time for the pivotal Holiday/New Year's period. A settlement by that is pivotal because, historically, Broadway's biggest revenue week is December 26 - Jan. 6 -- the period from Christmas through just after New Year's Day, a vacation period when tourists from college students to senior citizens flock to the city. If the strike wipes out Christmas/New Year's week revenue, every Broadway show will suffer large losses, and some shows, including some with inadequate advance sales, may be forced to end their runs.

Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) got some help from Santa Claus this year.

Fourth quarter net income was $98 million in the fourth quarter, or 23 cents per share, compared with $199 million, or 47 cents, because of an increase in income tax expenses. Revenue rose 34 percent to $3.99 billion, the Seattle-based company said in a statement.

Analysts had expected earnings of 21 cents on sales of $3.77 billion, according to Thomson Financial. Sales rose in after-hours trading. It also gave bullish guidance.

The company said first quarter sales will be between $2.85 billion to $3 billion, below the $3.77 billion analysts had anticipated. Revenue for the year will be $13 billion to $13.7 billion, above the $10.5 billion forecast by Wall Street.

Amazon's results were surprising considering the poor performance at Barnes & Noble Inc. (NYSE:BKS) and Borders Group Inc. (NYSE:BGP). The company credited Amazon Prime, a program which allows customers to get free two-day shipping for a yearly fee of $75, for helping to drive sales.

Bloomberg News reported that U.S. holiday shoppers spent more money online at Seattle-based Amazon than other retailers, citing data from comScore Networks.

Still, this stock makes investors uneasy. The company has spent lots of money on new initiatives such as Amazon Unbox, an online video download service. Plus, the company has some pretty tough competitors for price-conscious consumers.

That had an impact in the quarter as the company offered deals to help move more digital equipment and popular toys. Gross margins -- always a worry for analysts -- fell to 21.3 percent from 24 percent a year earlier.

Also check out some other earnings reports that we're following, and let us know what you're expecting.

It was very interesting to read today of the new promotional program eBay Inc.'s (NASDAQ:EBAY) online payment system, PayPal, will be offering. PayPal's promotional incentive programs valued at up to $100 million, will be launched, naturally, just in time for the holiday shopping season starting Nov 3, 2006 and ending ... May 15, 2007. That some long holiday season, I say.

The incentives include (among others) offering the over 100 million PayPal account users up to $20 cash rebate when paying with PayPal on select merchant sites, including eBay.com. Of course, only merchants offering PayPal Express Checkout are eligible for this promotion. Some of the merchants already listed are Dell, Starbucks and Barnes & Noble.

Why did I find this interesting, you may ask? Well, I'm looking at this promotion vis-a-vis Google, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:GOOG) online payment service, Google Checkout. Checkout, when first launched, was feared by many as a threat to PayPal, despite PayPal's dominating position in the industry. Checkout's great merchant incentives, rebates and lower fees were deemed a good strategy. Everybody, however, agreed that Checkout didn't offer much in way of incentives, if indeed any at all, to buyers.

Now comes PayPal locking buyers to its service, attacking the market from its strong suit -- its user base (over 100 million, remember?). What is a merchant to do? Well, a smart merchant would have to offer PayPal (the few who don't already, anyway), since it would not only guarantee higher sales, it may also provide higher traffic by way of its promised advertising promotions this holiday season. And don't forget that PayPal's idea of the holiday shopping season stretches to May.

Google Checkout has lost this holiday season round, there's no doubt. But has PayPal won? Will the $100 million expense be worth it? I guess we'll have to wait and see.