Good news: Consumers still spending in ’11

Published 6:00 pm Thursday, January 6, 2011

Here’s some good news on the econoomic front: Experts say the typical January hangover that consumers face after a busy holiday shopping season may not take place this year.

National economists, quoted in an Associated Press article, said Thursday that consumers are “going to hang tough and spend more aggressively in 2011.”

This prediction comes on the heels of a more robust holiday retail season, one in which Americans spent more than economists originally forecast.

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“it has been the cosumer that has been afraid to spend that has held the economy back and held businesses back from hiring,” Joel Naroll of Naroff Economic Advisors is quoted as saying. “That cycle is beginning to break.”

As the nation turns to 2011, some economists are predicting that consumer spending will rise 3.6 percent this year, double the rate at which it rose in 2010. And if that happens?

Well, the economy grows – up to 4 percent is possible.

And that is good news for everyone, from consumers to retailers to employers.

Combined with the extension of the Bush era tax cuts and the reduction in Social Security tax obligations that takes place this month, consumers may find more than a little extra cash in their paychecks, which could translate into cash in the registers for retailers.

That’s the best news possible for 2011.