NRF: Retail holiday sales growth in 2016 to outpace 10-year average

Retail sales in November and December are expected to increase 3.6 percent to $655.8 billion, up from 3 percent growth in the same 2015 period, according to the National Retail Federation.    The National Retail Federation (NRF) is projecting retail holiday sales growth in 2016 to outpace the 10-year and seven-year averages for the same period.
   Retail sales in November and December – excluding autos, gas and restaurant sales – are expected to increase 3.6 percent to $655.8 billion, up from 3 percent growth in the same 2015 period, according to the NRF.
   Should those projections prove accurate, it would represent a significant improvement from the 10-year growth average of 2.5 percent, as well as from the seven-year average of 3.4 percent since the financial recovery began in 2009.
   Last year, the retail advocacy group projected 3.7 percent growth for the holiday season, slightly higher than the actual 3 percent increase for November and December of 2015.
   In addition, NRF expects non-store sales to increase between 7 percent and 10 percent to as much as $117 billion for the 2016 holiday season.
   “All of the fundamentals are in a good place, giving strength to consumers and leading us to believe that this will be a very positive holiday season,” NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said in a statement. “This year hasn’t been perfect, starting with a long summer and unseasonably warm fall, but our forecast reflects the very realistic steady momentum of the economy and industry expectations.
   “We remain optimistic that the pace of economic activity will pick up in the near term,” he added.