Confident consumers are likely to make the coming holidays cheerier, with the National Retail Federation forecasting retail sales gains 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%.
Big retailers are amping up their TV outlays, with national spending up sharply to $667.1 million, compared with $604.5 million last year. And there are still plenty of sales to be made, with half of America not finished with their holiday shopping.
