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Sign in Sign up for a FREE subscriptionAmericans expect to splurge this holiday season, increase traffic for in-store shopping
The holiday season is here, and U.S. consumers are ready to spend money.
The National Retail Federation expects holiday sales during November and December to rise between 8.5 percent and 10.5 percent, for a total of between $843.4 billion and $859 billion of sales.
And consumers have been active so far in second half 2021. Advance estimates of U.S. retail and food services sales for October 2021, adjusted for seasonal variation and holiday and trading-day differences, but not for price changes, were $638.2 billion, an increase of 1.7 percent (±0.5 percent) from the previous month (0.8 percent), and 16.3 percent (±0.9 percent) above October 2020, reported the U.S. Commerce Department. The retail sales figures aren't adjusted for inflation, which rose 0.9 percent in October.Total sales for the August 2021 through October 2021 period were up 15.4 percent (±0.7 percent) from the same period a yea