With a little more than a month to go before the official kick-off of the holiday shopping seasons, retailers – online and brick and mortar – could see a healthy boost in sales.

With unemployment low and consumer confidence high, holiday retail sales for November and December are estimated to increase 3.6 percent to 4 percent to $682.0 billion, up from $655.8 billion in 2016, according to the National Retail Federation, writes Suzette Parmley for philly.com. 

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“Our forecast reflects the very realistic, steady momentum of the economy and overall strength of the industry,” NRF president and chief executive officer Matthew Shay said in a conference call with retail reporters. “Although this year hasn’t been perfect, especially with the recent devastating hurricanes, we believe that a longer shopping season and strong consumer confidence will deliver retailers a strong holiday season.”

The NRF — the industry’s largest trade group — announced its forecast  that  for the first time used a range in percentage growth, noting that the recent hurricanes in the South would likely impact the second-half retail-sales data. The $682 billion figure excludes automobiles, gasoline, and restaurants.

Shay said Christmas would fall 32 days after Thanksgiving this year, one more day than last year, and would be on a Monday, giving consumers an extra weekend day to complete their shopping.

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