This year’s holiday season is giving retailers reason to be jolly. Retail sales rose 0.3% in November from the month before, bucking a 0.1% decline expected by economists polled by The Wall Street Journal. The WSJ’s Justin Lahart writes in Heard on the Street that the ringing of cash registers in the run-up to Christmas is drowning out gloomy consumer polls. Americans still have plenty of money to spend, the jobs market remains strong and there are more deals to be had this year as inflation cools and prices for toys, sporting goods and computers are coming down. The National Retail Federation said a record 200.4 million people shopped in person and online from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday. Economists note that higher interest rates and the resumption of student debt repayments still threaten to crimp spending. But consumers probably won’t be able to tell by looking at the pile of gifts under this year’s tree.

A dearth of the specialty ships needed to install turbines is buffeting America’s offshore wind industry. Wind-farm companies operating in the U.S. must use American-made and American-operated vessels to ferry turbine components to offshore sites because of a century-old law known as the Jones Act. The WSJ’s David Uberti and Joe Wallace write that there aren’t enough of the vessels to meet demand. One of the new ships on the way, the 472-foot-long Charybdis, is over budget and a year behind schedule at a Texas shipyard. Such supply-chain snags, coupled with inflation and interest-rate hikes, have pushed up what homeowners will ultimately pay for offshore wind power and sparked fears the U.S. wind market is in trouble. The delays are forcing wind-farm companies to find workarounds that raise project costs and in some cases are helping to scuttle plans. Danish wind giant Ørsted cited ship delays among the reasons for canceling two wind farm projects off the coast of New Jersey.

• Sandbrook Capital has amassed $2.1 billion to invest in renewable-energy businesses with a focus on the U.S. (WSJ)

Uranium prices are surging on a drop-off in supply. Canada’s Cameco, France’s Orano and Kazakhstan’s state uranium company are all cutting back on production at the same time. The WSJ’s Rhiannon Hoyle reports that the shortfalls are pushing up prices for a lightly processed concentrate known as yellowcake to the highest rates since 2008. Each company has different reasons for the slowdowns. Cameco, one of the world’s biggest uranium producers, is citing problems with equipment reliability and a lack of skilled workers. Orano is carrying out maintenance work at its Somair plant and mine. The uranium prices are surging as more than 20 countries, including the U.S., pledged at the United Nations’ annual climate meeting to triple nuclear-energy capacity by 2050 to help achieve net-zero emissions goals. Miners say they are waiting to see whether prices remain elevated before deciding whether to reopen mothballed sites or accelerate new projects and ramp up supply.

• A future free of fossil fuels, such as the one envisioned at the COP28 climate summit, poses a challenge to Australia’s economy. (WSJ)
• French lender Credit Agricole said it won’t finance any new fossil-fuel extraction projects and that it aims to be carbon neutral by 2050. (WSJ)

Initial jobless claims in the U.S. fell by 19,000. (MarketWatch)

The cost of imported goods fell 0.4% in November for the second straight month. (MarketWatch)

The European Central Bank and the Bank of England held interest rates steady. (WSJ)

China’s industrial output accelerated to 6.6% annual growth last month. (WSJ)

Global oil-demand growth is expected to weaken next year, according to the International Energy Agency. (WSJ)

Walmart is adding calm shopping hours for people with autism and other sensory sensitivities. (WSJ)

E-commerce platforms Temu and Shein are fueling a surge in air cargo rates out of southern China. (Financial Times)

The owners of Temu filed a lawsuit in U.S. district court alleging rival Shein intimidated suppliers who sell on its site. (Reuters)

Europe’s top court sided with Amazon in a case where the e-commerce giant had been accused of receiving illegal tax benefits. (CNBC)

Collapsed online retailer Zulily sued Amazon alleging the company used anticompetitive business practices. (Business Journals)

Indian e-commerce company Udaan raised $340 million in a Series E round ahead of an expected stock market debut in 2025. (Bloomberg)

Workers at a warehouse in southwest England operated by contract-logistics provider GXO walked off the job Thursday. (Swindon Advertiser)

A missile fired from territory controlled by Houthi rebels in Yemen missed a Maersk Line containership traveling through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. (Times of Israel)

A Bulgarian bulker was boarded by unidentified individuals in the Arabian Sea south of Yemen. (Maritime Executive)

Hong Kong aims to increase flights with countries taking part in Beijing’s global Belt and Road trade network. (South China Morning Post)

Brooklyn Nets forward Harry Giles III has a fallback career in trucking. (Andscape)

• Ernst & Young is laying off dozens of partners as the accounting firm faces slowing demand for certain services.
• Companies are wrestling with how much information to report about cyberattacks under new disclosure rules, worried that saying too much might invite lawsuits and more hacks.
• Opioid victims are finding that billions of dollars pledged by drugmakers to settle lawsuits have been snared in the morass of the nation’s bankruptcy system.
• 🎧 Listen to Flexport CEO Ryan Petersen discuss what he sees as the role of technology versus human interaction in running a global logistics company.

Paul Page is editor of WSJ Logistics Report. Reach him at paul.page@wsj.com.

Follow the WSJ Logistics Report team: @PaulPage, @bylizyoung and @pdberger. Follow the WSJ Logistics Report on X at @WSJLogistics.