Holiday Shopping Starts Strong, NRF Says
Consumers may be worried about prices as they hit the stores to shop for gifts, but early data from the Census Bureau revealed a strong start to the holiday shopping season.
Figures from the Census Bureau show retail sales were up 0.7% seasonally in November and grew 3.8% year-over-year.
Core retail sales in November, as defined by the National Retail Federation, which exclude automobile dealers, gasoline statons, and restaurants, were up 0.4% seasonally and 3.8% year-over-year.
“November’s results show a strong start to the traditional holiday season,” said Jack Kleinhenz, chief economist with the National Retail Federation. “These numbers combined with better-than-expected October sales are evidence that consumer spending continues to fuel the economy. Job and wage gains, modest inflation and a heathy balance sheet have led to solid holiday spending.”
He added the growth comes even with the late timing of Thanksgiving delayed the beginning of the busiest shopping portion of the holiday season and pushed Thanksgiving Sunday and Cyber Monday sales into December.
According to the NRF, November’s results align its forecast that holiday sales will grow 2.5% to 3.5% over 2023. NRF defines the season as November 1 through December 31, but nearly half (45%) of holiday shoppers planned to begin before then and 58% had started by early November.
