Holiday spending to flirt with record highs

Black Friday is just two weeks away, so the holidays are probably on your mind. The National Retail Federation says Americans on average plan to spend about $890 on holiday gifts, food, decorations and other seasonal items this season, the second-highest in the 23-year history of the Prosper Insights & Analytics survey. All told, sales this season could rise about 4% from last year and hit more than $1 trillion for the first time. Retailers are also projected to hire up to 365,000 seasonal workers, a 17% dip from last year. “We remain bullish about the holiday shopping season,” says NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay, “and expect that consumers will continue to seek savings in nonessential categories to be able to spend on gifts for loved ones.”