A Gallup poll released today said that Americans spent $91 daily in November, up from $88 a day in October, making it the highest amount for November in the past six years. Gallup noted that its daily spending poll results exclude "normal household bills and major purchases such as homes or cars." It reported its first measurement of consumers' daily spending amounts in 2008.
Gallup said November, the traditional start of the holiday shopping season, usually ranks among the highest-spending months of the year.
November 2013's $3 daily spending jump from the previous month equals the biggest increase from one month to the next since the fall of 2010, when Americans spent $66 a day in November, up from October 2010's $63. According to Gallup, December is traditionally the highest-spending month of the year, so the relatively strong November 2013 consumer results indicates "the coming month [December] could be the strongest for spending that Gallup has measured since 2008."
In a related poll, Gallup asked U.S. consumers in both October and November how much they expected to spend during the holidays this year. Though October's results were more bullish than the recently completed November 2013 poll, even the weaker consumer spending sentiment last month (compared to October) would be an improvement over the December 2012 holiday shopping season, according to Gallup.
In November, consumers estimated they would spend $704 on Christmas gifts this season, down from their $786 average prediction in October.
