Retail Sales Outlook

 Retail Sales Outlook

• Despite high anxiety about the U.S. economy, NRF is forecasting that holiday sales will grow 4.1 percent this year to $586.1 billion.
• The pace of the U.S. recovery is slowing, with the economy growing at an annual rate of 1.7 percent during the first half of 2012, down from the 2.2 percent annual average seen since the recession ended in 2009. But expectations for housing sales are up.
• Concerns are growing about employment, income growth and the pending “fiscal cliff” of tax increases and federal spending cuts.

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