BAD

The more data that becomes available on the holiday retail season, the worse it looks.

New Gallup data shows that “Consumers’ self-reported daily spending in stores, restaurants, gas stations, and online averaged $63 per day in October — up slightly from $59 in September, but down slightly from $66 a year ago.”

Add this information to the increase in gas and home heating oil and factor in the extent to which c
onsumers are still leveraged, and the money available for holiday expenditure will be scarce.

The Gallup poll shows that monthly spending is far below pre-recession levels, which means this will be the third hard year-end shopping season. The data for middle class spending is particularly disheartening.

Results are based on telephone interviews conducted as part of Gallup Daily tracking October 1-31, 2010, with a random sample of 14,799 adults, aged 18 and older, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia, selected using random-digit-dial sampling.

Douglas A. McIntyre