According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), quoted by IDEX Online, its projected record growth in spending by US consumers in the 2021 holiday season will be “supercharged” by about $2.5 trillion accumulated by consumers who have largely stayed home during the pandemic.
The NRF is predicting that 2021 holiday retail sales during November and December will grow between 8.5% and 10.5% over 2020 to a total between $843.4 billion and $859 billion. According to NRF Chief Economist Jack Kleinhenz, “there are several factors coming together to have a major impact on the holiday outlook, but household fundamentals are a bright spot in the uncertain present. Consumers are in a very favourable position going into the last months of the year and are spending because they can.”
Kleinhenz explained that a “savings buffer” of about $2.5 trillion accumulated by consumers during the pandemic has “supercharged” spending. In addition, “income is growing in the form of more jobs, more hours and higher wages reflecting businesses’ competition for workers during the current labour shortage. Household wealth hit another record high during the second quarter (the latest data available) and has boosted consumer confidence.”
