Holiday Spending: “Ho, Ho” or “Ho, Hum”?

Americans plan to spend less on the holidays this year — but not much less — than they did last year.

According to a research from The Conference Board reports, U.S. households plan to spend an average of $563 on gifts this holiday season, down slightly from $576 last year.

Only around 9 percent plan to spend more this year on holiday gifts. That’s down from 11 percent last year.

Lynn Franco, Director of Economic Indicators at The Conference Board, sounded upbeat in a recent statement: “Continued job and wage growth, and a confident consumer are likely to make this another good holiday season for retailers.”

“This season is shaping up to mirror last year’s, with consumers unwilling to pay full price for gifts, and with bargains and incentives driving their spending decisions,” she said.

So, it looks like it’s going to be a “ho, ho” holiday season.