Consumers may spend more this holiday season

10/06/2010

When it comes to personal finance budgeting, the holiday shopping season tends to be a particularly difficult time for many consumers - especially if they are already working to pay down their credit card debt.

In a recent announcement, the National Retail Federation predicted that shoppers will spend $447.1 billion this holiday season, which would mark a 2.3 percent increase over the previous year.

While the current prediction would at least mark the strongest holiday shopping season in at least two years, it would still remain below the 10-year growth average of 2.5 percent. This indicates that many consumers remain concerned with credit card debt and other personal financial details.

"Though the retail industry is on stronger footing than last year, companies are closely watching key economic indicators like employment and consumer confidence before getting too optimistic that the recession is behind them," said NRF President Matthew Shay.

Technically, the recession came to an end last summer, but for many consumers, unemployment and mortgage difficulties make the prospect of a recovery seem remote. With that in mind, economists will be watching closely to see how much money consumers will be willing to spend this holiday season.
 

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