President Donald Trump was mocked by the left for his vow that we’ll all be saying “Merry Christmas” again.
Now, they have to swallow hard and admit he was right.
America IS saying “Merry Christmas” again, and in the best way possible: The Trump Economy is powering ahead, growing at rates unheard of in recent years. Even better, it is about to kick into overdrive as holiday shopping gets under way.
Stores are open – both online and brick-and-mortar – keeping Americans working, and giving consumers some cash that they’re ready to spend.
As a result, the National Retail Federation projects that holiday spending will jump by up to 4 percent this year, easily beating the 3.5 percent average rise in holiday spending over the past 5 years while under former President Barack Obama.
Americans will spend about $680 billion, up from $655.8 billion last year with e-commerce in particular up by between 8 percent and 12 percent
“Our forecast reflects the very realistic steady momentum of the economy and overall strength of the industry,” NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said in a news release. “Although this year hasn’t been perfect, especially with the recent devastating hurricanes, we believe that a longer shopping season and strong consumer confidence will deliver retailers a strong holiday season.”
On a personal level, the numbers are even more impressive.
One survey of consumers found they plan to spend $743 each on Thanksgiving weekend alone, a jump of 47 percent over last year.
All that shopping – and all that spending – will spread holiday joy to all the other industries that rely on retail.
FedEx, for example, says it’s planning to deliver a record 400 million packages this holiday season.
More packages, of course, means more jobs… and FedEx will have plenty of them, hiring as many as 50,000 extra workers to handle the load.
They’re not alone.
UPS will deliver 750 million packages this holiday season, up 7 percent, while the U.S. Postal Service will deliver 850 million packages, up more than 10 percent from last year.
That’s of course great for consumers who enjoy buying gifts… and even better for their recipients. But it’s best of all for America’s retail industry.
And when America’s retail industry is healthy, the American economy is healthy.
“Consumers continue to do the heavy lifting in supporting our economy, and all the fundamentals are aligned for them to continue doing so during the holidays,” NRF Chief Economist Jack Kleinhenz said. “The combination of job creation, improved wages, tame inflation and an increase in net worth all provide the capacity and the confidence to spend.”
Yes, we’re ALL saying “Merry Christmas” again!
— The Horn editorial team