The National Retail Federation forecasts that holiday selling season...

The National Retail Federation forecasts that holiday selling season sales will jump 4.1 percent to $616.9 billion, higher than 2013’s actual 3.1 percent increase during that same time frame, the group said Tuesday (http://bit.ly/1uwJRlv). The forecast includes retail sales in the months of November and December, excluding car, gas and restaurant sales, it said. Holiday sales on average have grown 2.9 percent annually over the past 10 years, including 2014’s estimates, and are expected to be about 19.2 percent of the retail industry’s annual sales of $3.2 trillion, NRF said. This would be the first time since 2011 that holiday sales jumped higher than 4 percent, it said. It gave no projected breakout of CE sales, but said electronics and appliance stores drew 22.5 percent of their total 2013 revenue from sales in November and December. Total tech spending during the holidays will increase 2.5 percent, up from 0.9 percent growth in 2013, to a record $33.76 billion for the season, CEA has said (CED Oct 7 p4). “While expectations for sales growth are upbeat, it goes without saying there still remains some uneasiness and anxiety among consumers when it comes to their purchase decisions,” NRF said. “The lagging economic recovery, though improving, is still top of mind for many Americans.”