NEW YORK — A shopping boost on the day after Thanksgiving as consumers turned their thoughts to the holiday season couldn't save a weak November for most retailers, fueling more concerns about a bleak December and beyond amid what could be a deep and long recession.

As merchants reported their November sales figures Thursday, disappointments cut across all sectors as shoppers worried about layoffs and shrinking retirement funds focus on necessities.

Among the beneficiaries of that was Wal-Mart, which posted sales results that beat Wall Street estimates and predicted that sales for established stores for the current month should be at the high end of estimates. However, Costco., usually a strong performer, reported a bigger-than expected sales decline. And mall-based stores such as teen stalwart Abercrombie & Fitch, Kohl's and Macy's fared much worse, reporting percentage declines of over 10 percent.

Many stores blamed their weak November figures in part to a quirk in the calendar — a late Thanksgiving means that the month's reporting period does not include a whole week of post-holiday shopping compared with a year ago.