Holiday shoppers boost spending as consumer resilience persists

Americans are planning to spend more this holiday season than last year, according to credit reporting firm TransUnion. 

In a sign of consumer resilience, roughly 57% of US shoppers surveyed by the firm said they expect to spend the same or more compared with 2024. About a third will likely spend more than $500, up from 28% a year earlier. 

As economic growth cools and the job market weakens, signals on the health of the US consumer remain mixed. Many Americans with lower incomes are struggling to make ends meet, while higher earners continue to power the economy. 

In fact, holiday sales are set to top $1 trillion for the first time this year, according to a forecast by the National Retail Federation.

Shoppers report that they will rely more heavily on credit cards this year, with 42% naming this their preferred payment method, up from 38% last year, according to the TransUnion data.

And despite some measures showing declines in consumer sentiment, the report found that most Americans remain sanguine about their finances. About 55% of respondents said they are optimistic about their household finances over the next 12 months. The positive sentiment was highest among younger Americans, with more than 63% of both millennials and Gen Z feeling optimistic. 

“Even if people aren’t feeling good about how much things cost, we’re getting price stability, which means people can plan,” said Charlie Wise, senior vice president and head of global research and consulting at TransUnion. “So going into the period, consumers are relatively healthy and able to manage their debt.”