(Finance) – The National Retail Federation of the United States predicts that the spending for the Christmas holidays will reach record levels in November and December 2023, and will grow between 3% and 4% compared to 2022, to reach a value between $957.3 and $966.6 billion. The increase compares with 5.4% growth seen last year and a 13.5% jump in 2021.
“It’s not surprising to see the growth in Christmas sales return to pre-pandemic levels – said NRF CEO Matthew Shay – Household finances overall remain in good shape and will continue to support consumer spending power.”
Despite a slower growth rate than the past three years, when trillions of dollars in stimulus led to unprecedented retail spending rates during the pandemic, this year’s holiday spending is consistent with the average annual increase of holidays by 3.6% from 2010 to 2019.
The online shopping has been one of the biggest shifts in consumer behavior as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The National Retail Federation expects online and non-store sales, included in the total, to increase between 7% and 9% to total between $273.7 billion and $278.8 billion. This figure is up from $255.8 billion last year.
To meet holiday demand, NRF expects retailers to hire between 345,000 and 450,000 seasonal workerson track for 391,000 seasonal hires in 2022. Some of these hires may have been brought forward to October to support retailers’ holiday shopping events in October.