(MediaPost) – The National Retail Federation predicts that there will be an increase in holiday spending this year.
The NRD is forecasting a gain of between 4.2% and 4.8%.
That translates to as much as $720.89 billion in November and December — and while that is somewhat below last year’s 5.3% gain, it still stands well above the five-year average of 3.9%.
The predictions include all retail sales in November and December, excluding automobiles, gasoline and restaurants. And it includes online and other non-store sales.
The Washington-based trade group also predicts retailers will try and add between 585,000 and 650,000 seasonal employees, up from 582,500 last year.
