MINNESOTA, USA — If you didn’t already guess it from a barrage of sales ads in your inbox, the holiday shopping season is upon us.
Black Friday is right around the corner. It may no longer look like the crowd-filled, in-person mayhem that it was decades ago - in large part due to the rising dependence on online shopping that was accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, the holiday sales event is still slated to attract millions of consumers.
Will people be spending like they did last year? Experts are predicting neither a jump nor decline in sales, rather a stagnant line, according to University of St. Thomas professor, David Vang.
"The level of inflation has been so high, for so long. Now, that prices have gone up and wages haven't necessarily matched it, people have less discretionary spending," Vang said.
Vang added data from payrolls seems to suggest that stores are anticipating less sales volume, so they aren't hiring as many people.
Recently, the Lending Club reported that 61% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck, impacting both lower and higher-earning families. Some economists say consumption accounts for about 70% of economic activity, adding the consumer has a large impact on the country's economic future and the odds of a recession in the months ahead.
"You got a lot of people already working two jobs just to make ends meet," Vang said.
For a closer look at big deals on Black Friday, click here.
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