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by WILL FOLKS
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American consumers are poised to spend more than $1 trillion on their holiday shopping this year despite pervasive economic uncertainty and pernicious economic headwinds.
According to projections from the National Retail Federation (NRF), sales during the months of November and December will increase by anywhere between 3.6% and 4.2% from 2024 – equating to total spending of between $1.01 trillion and $1.02 trillion.
Last holiday season, shoppers spent an estimated $976.1 billion – a 4.3% uptick over 2023.
“American consumers may be cautious in sentiment, yet remain fundamentally strong and continue to drive U.S. economic activity,” NRF president and chief executive officer Matthew Shay said in a statement accompanying the projections. “We remain bullish about the holiday shopping season and expect that consumers will continue to seek savings in nonessential categories to be able to spend on gifts for loved ones.”
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NRF projected this growth would translate into a short-term employment boost, with retailers expected to hire anywhere between 265,000 and 365,000 seasonal workers. Even the high end of that estimate would be down from the 442,000 seasonal hires reported in 2024, however.
That’s the lowest level of seasonal hiring in the past fifteen years – and comes amid worsening pressure on the American labor market.
Bain and Company is projecting a similar 4% uptick in holiday spending, although it noted such an outcome – assuming it were to materialize – would lag behind the 10-year average growth of 5.2%.
Deloitte also signaled potential weakness in the upcoming market, noting the average shopper it surveyed intended to spend $1,595 this holiday season – down 10% from last year’s $1,778.
“The season is unfolding against a backdrop of economic uncertainty,” Deloitte’s consumer industry analysts noted.
Indeed… count on FITSNews to keep tabs on how these projections play out, and how the 2025 season ultimately impacts the broader economic climate.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.
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3 comments
Nice job of trying to polish a turd, but consumer sentiment is at an almost all-time low according to the latest data. Even if people just bought the same as they did last year they will be spending more thanks to the Trump tariffs and 3% inflation.
Being a MAGA moron means being satisfied with “2 dolls instead of 30” but the dolls are the same cheap Chinese crap with massive tariffs added on top. Walmart is losing money, the Chinese factories are making less, and Uncle Sam is collecting big bucks from the sales but still running even larger deficits than it was before because, quite literally, Republicans don’t know how to govern.
And when both inflation and unemployment soar rest assured Donald Trump will gladly cut another check to foreign countries before you see a dime from him.
Is was just reported the other day that Trump added 1 Trillion to the debt faster than any President in history. MAGA is indeed full of morons. Oh, and it also came out that not only did DOGE fail to save even 1 dollar, they cost us all billions in wasted dollars. Trump’s supporters live in an alternate reality devoid of facts.