Holiday spending up 5.3% from 2021 but misses forecast, report states

© John Angelillo/UPI Pedestrians and shoppers walk on Fifth Avenue in New York City in 2022. Consumer spending for the holidays was up 5.3% from last year, according to the National Retail Federation on Wednesday. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI

Jan. 18 (UPI) -- U.S. customers spent $936.3 billion in retail sales over this past holiday season, a 5.3% increase from 2021 but the smallest increase since 2019, according to the National Retail Federation on Wednesday.

The spending for November and December fell short of the NRF's forecast, but sales for 2022 grew 7% against the season to $4.9 trillion. That yearly total met the NRF's prediction of growing from 6% to 8%.

"The last two years of retail sales have been unprecedented, and no one ever thought it was sustainable," NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said in a statement. "Nonetheless, we closed out 2022 with impressive annual retail sales and a respectable holiday season despite historic levels of inflation and interest rate hikes to cool the economy."

Shay said consumers paid for items in "record numbers" while retailers tried to boost holiday profits with deals and promotional products.

"The fact that we saw retail sales growth on top of December's 14% gain in 2022 shows the resilience of consumers and the creativity of retailers in driving consumption and economic activity while addressing high inflation and continued cost pressures," Shay said.

Mastercard SpendingPlus data showed late last month that heavily discounted items did the trick in getting customers to spend their extra cash.

The Mastercard SpendingPlus data showed that from Nov. 1 and Dec. 24, retail sales increased by about 7.6% over the same period in 2021 across the United States when excluding automotive purchases.

The Commerce Department said on Wednesday in its latest report that advance estimates of U.S. retail and food services sales for December 2022, adjusted for seasonal variation, were $677.1 billion, down 1.1% from the previous month, but up 6% from December 2021.

It reported total sales for 2022 were up 9.2% from 2021. Total sales for October 2022 through December 2022 period increased 6.7% from a year ago.

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