WASHINGTON – A record high 55% of all consumers expect to spend less money this holiday season, according to a survey released today by CUNA and the Consumer Federation of America.
Based on the data compiled from this annual survey, holiday sales could decline between 2% and 5% compared to last year, said CUNA Chief Economist Bill Hampel.
He said during each of the last five years between 30% and 35% of those surveyed said they plan to cut back holiday spending. The dramatic increase this year cut across all age and income groups.
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In response to an open-ended question about why they planned to cut back on spending, 36% cited the economic downturn, 22% said less money, 12.5% said a desire to save money or reduce debt, 10.5% said higher prices and 9% said they had less income than last year.
Hampel said for credit unions, the reduced spending means there will be less growth in the use of credit as in previous years and more growth in deposits.
"Credit unions have already had a good year for loan growth. The loan/savings ratio has been strong for credit unions. This will pull it down, which is not a bad thing," he said.
He added that consumers using less credit won't have a dramatic impact on credit unions because credit card balances are not a large part of a credit union's balance sheet.
CUNA and the Consumer Federation of America surveyed 1,003 people between November 6 and November 9.
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