• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, May 31, 2011

Looks like consumers think Dad is worth a splurge: A new survey from the National Retail Federation reports that Americans say they will spend $11.1 billion on Pop this year, an all-time high for the eight-year-old survey.

That works out to about $106.49 per celebrant, up from $94.32 last year. Men, who are a smidge more likely to observe the day (75.9% versus 75.2% of women) are also more likely to be consciously upping the ante, with 14.5% saying they plan to spend more than they did last year, compared with 12.8% of women.

The most popular gift is a special outing this year, with Americans with 42.3% of survey respondents saying they plan to take Dad somewhere special, like golfing, eating out or the movies.