Elgin Area Chamber Of Commerce: Holiday Sales Could Be Flat, Jobless Claims Drop Again

Press release from the Elgin Area Chamber of Commerce:

October 22, 2021

By Richard Lawson
CoStar News

Holiday Sales Could Be Flat
 

U.S. consumers may keep spending this holiday season at roughly the same level as last year, but how they spend is expected to be a little different, according to an annual survey by a retail industry association.

The National Retail Federation’s survey done with Prosper Insights and Analytics found that consumers plan to spend an average of $997.73 combined on gifts, holiday items and nongift purchases for themselves and their families. While that’s roughly the same as last year, it’s a little lower than the pre-pandemic high of $1,047.83 in 2019.

According to the survey, the drop is the result of fewer consumers planning to spend on nongift purchases for themselves and their families. Consumers are also less inclined to buy gifts for coworkers because many people continue to work from home.
Supply chain difficulties for retailers have prompted concerns of shortages during the holiday season and major delays in getting products on shelves.

In the survey of 7,921 consumers, 47% are concerned they will have difficulty finding items. Electronics are the top concern among 44% of the respondents, followed by clothes at 40% and toys at 28%.

More consumers plan to start shopping earlier this year than in 2020, 49% compared to 42%. But fewer plan to buy online this year, falling three percentage points from last year to 57%, which potentially means more shoppers in stores.

Jobless Claims Drop Again

New claims for unemployment benefits dropped to a new low last week, but just barely.

The Labor Department reported Thursday that 290,000 new applications were filed, 6,000 less than the previous week’s number that was revised upward by 3,000. Still, the numbers beat economist expectations that it would rise to 300,000.

Last week’s number is the lowest since the week in mid-March 2020 when the pandemic was made official. Continuing claims, which represents those still using unemployment benefits, fell 122,000 in the week that ended Oct. 9 to 2.481 million to mark another new low since the pandemic began.

The largest decreases in new claims came in Tennessee, California, Florida, New Jersey and Alabama. Michigan topped the list of largest increases with 3,673 new claims.

Source: CoStar Group, www.costar.com

This press release was produced by the Elgin Area Chamber of Commerce. The views expressed here are the author’s own.