Holiday sales up despite uncertainties

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One might expect shoppers to err on the side of caution this holiday season. However, while some analysts predict exactly that, there are reasons to be hopeful—and they seem to be accumulating.

Article originally published by Forbes. Hargreaves Lansdown is not responsible for its content or accuracy and may not share the author's views. News and research are not personal recommendations to deal. All investments can fall in value so you could get back less than you invest.

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18 Dec 2023

With higher interest rates, rising prices, and continued violence in the Middle East and Ukraine, one might expect shoppers to err on the side of caution this holiday season. However, while some analysts predict exactly that, there are reasons to be hopeful—and they seem to be accumulating.

In the meantime, while Washington took numerous steps to help mitigate the economic impact of COVID, the Federal Reserve pushed back by slamming on the brakes in early 2022. Since then, the bank prime rate has risen from 3.25% to 8.5%. This was, of course, part of their effort to control rising inflation (the futility of which I have discussed elsewhere).

It was for reasons like these that early forecasts of holiday sales were fairly pessimistic. Several days after Black Friday, for example, CNN reported this regarding the US economy:

“This year, dollar sales growth for