This November and December, sales are expected to marginally increase 3.9% to $602.1 billion, slightly higher than last year’s 3.5% holiday season sales growth, National Retail Federation (NRF) says. The estimates were released earlier this month, however, the U.S. enters the holiday shopping season after consumer confidence last week saw its sharpest one-week drop since the period following collapse of Lehman Brothers, according to Gallup.
The NRF has not updated its forecast since the shutdown began, but on Thursday CEO Matthew Shay had sharp words for Congress.
“As we head into the holiday shopping season, retailers and consumers need stability and certainty from policymakers in Washington and assurance that the economy will not implode due to their actions or more important, lack thereof,” Shay said in statement. “This new norm of legislating from crisis to crisis is no way to govern.”
And that’s how the debt ceiling could steal Christmas.
This story does not take into account layoffs and reduced payrolls from Obamacare. It also does not take into account the loss of discretionary spending to the new Obamacare tax on working people.