Holiday Retail Sales Projected to Grow by 4.1% Y-O-Y

Holiday retail sales will grow 4.1% year-over-year to reach $586.1 billion, forecasts the National Retail Federation (NRF). That rate is down from actual growth in 2011 and 2010 (both at 5.6%), but is above the trailing 10-year average sales increase of 3.3%. The NRF estimate is slightly more aggressive than a recent projection from Deloitte, which predicted 3.5%-4% growth in holiday sales this year. (more…)