U.S. retailers’ sales will climb 3 percent to 3.5 percent this holiday season, the best performance since 2006, as the economy improves, the International Council of Shopping Centers said.
The gain for the November and December months is consistent with the year-to-date climb of 3.5 percent, Mike Niemira, the ICSC’s chief economist, said in an e-mail today. His New York- based trade group tracks sales at stores open at least a year at more than 30 chains.
The winter holidays are typically the biggest shopping season for U.S. retailers. Companies such as Toys ‘R’ Us Inc., the world’s biggest toy retailer, are hiring more staff to cope with demand over that period as consumers begin buying again, rebounding from the worst recession since the 1930s.
Consumer spending rose more than forecast in August as incomes surged, according to data from the Commerce Department. Those purchases account for about 70 percent of the U.S. economy.
Toys ‘R’ Us, based in Wayne, New Jersey, said this week that it would hire about 45,000 seasonal employees, doubling its U.S. workforce, to cope with holiday demand. The increase in seasonal employees is 10,000 more than last year.
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