high-end restaurants and luxury brands were up 6.7%. even more impressive considering this time last year, they were down by 9%. that s an indication i think that over the holiday weekend, we ll see a lot more feet coming into the nation s malls and likely a lot more credit cards going out of wallets. reporter: so what s behind this retail rebound? one factor, more americans are working again. the labor department announced the number of people filing for unemployment benefits dropped last week to 407,000, the lowest level in more than two years. the fact is if you re less worried about your job, you re a lot more likely to spend more when you go out for the holiday shopping this weekend. reporter: part of this uptick in hiring is due to retailers feeling optimistic about the holidays. 29,000 new jobs at best buy. 45,000 at toys r us. 30,000 at jcpenney. analysts say not all of these new jobs will disappear by the new year.
workers, best buy, the limited, macy s, they re all hiring now, and look at all the numbers, 30,000 at jcpenney, 50,000 as the limited some of this stuff actually turns into full-time jobs, but for the most part, it is seasonal workers. what about the holiday season how where people are going to shop. these temporary stores, you have seen them at the strip malls, a lot of the stores are doing it, toys r us, fao schwartz, borders, it s a nice way to show off a new product, get the customers, and they re not assuming any ring, the space is temporary and they get a lot of traffic over the holidays. can you just look at the camera with me vera, we did not coordinate. i love the cool fall colors. he is topping the music