Page 12 - The Peorian Vol 3 Issue 1 Winter

12 thePeorian.com
“Our forecast is a realistic look
at where we are right now in this
economy, balancing continued
uncertainty in Washington and
an economy that has been teeter-
ing on incremental growth for
years,” NRF CEO Matthew Shay
said when the forecast was issued
Oct. 3. “Overall, retailers are
optimistic for the 2013 holiday
season, hoping political debates
over government spending and
the debt ceiling do not erase any
economic progress we’ve already
made.”
Among the variables that led
to the positive forecast is that
there has been growth in national
housing markets the past year
and an “increased consumer ap-
petite to buy large-ticket items.”
The NRF said holiday sales
can account for anywhere from
20 percent to 40 percent of a re-
tailer’s annual sales and accounts
for approximately 20 percent of
all annual sales for the industry.
Jack Kleinhenz, the NRF’s chief
economist, said the economy
“continues to expand, albeit at
an unspectacular pace. In order
for consumers to turn out this
holiday season, we need to see
steady improvements in income
and job growth, as well as an
agreement from Washington that
puts the economic recovery first.
Our forecast leaves room for
improvement, while at the same
time provides a very realistic
look at the state of the American
consumer and their confidence in
our economy.”
In the Peoria area, those same
factors were considered when
Bradley University’s Center for
Business and Economic Research
calculated that local consumer
confidence declined in the August
through October period. That
occurred despite the local survey
showing there was improvement
in household income from a year
earlier and that buying attitudes
were better than in the previous
several surveys, said Dr. Bernard
Goitein, director of the Center for
Business and Economic Research.
The Present