Poll: Holiday spending to decline

PRINCETON, N.J., Nov. 19 (UPI) -- U.S. consumer spending for the 2008 holiday season is projected to fall to a 10-year low, Gallup Poll researchers said Wednesday.

Based on results of a Nov. 13-16 poll of 1,009 U.S. adults, Gallup researchers projected the average consumer would spend $616 this year, the lowest spending projection since the figure was first tracked and a decline from an average of $866 a year ago.

Expected consumer spending in the November 2002 poll was $690, the previous low for the survey, Gallup said.

In the survey, 39 percent of respondents indicated they were "very likely" to shop in department stores, a drop from 53 percent in 2007. More shoppers indicated they would shop at discount stores compared with 2007, 45 percent versus 42 percent.

But, a "slight drop in projected Internet shopping was a surprise," Gallup said.

Overall, U.S. consumers have generally indicated they would spend the same amount on the holidays compared with the previous year, but this year just 46 percent said they would spend the same, "only the second time this measure has dropped below 50 percent," Gallup said.

The survey results include a sampling error of plus and minus 3 percentage points, Gallup said.