Still, it's all good: So good, in fact, the NRF has raised its forecast, and now expects the season to end up 3.3% to $451.5 billion, not the 2.3% it predicted last month. "The start to the holiday season has surpassed all expectations," NRF president/CEO Matthew Shay says in its release. "While employment data is still a concern, we are starting to see improvement in other economic indicators that support an increase to our forecast."
The survey, conducted by BIGResearch, finds that 16.9% of Americans haven't even started shopping, while 10.1% are already finished. And while 32.4% plan to finish shopping this weekend, Friday, December 24, is expected to be the second busiest day.