The economic concerns that rose to the top of voters’ list of issues in the recent presidential election appear to be carrying over into end-of-year as most Utahns report they’re embracing a careful spending approach for the winter holiday shopping season, according to a new statewide survey.
Nationally, consumers are expected to spend more than ever on holiday-related shopping this year but the uptick is one somewhat blunted by ongoing inflationary pressures.
According to The Conference Board’s annual holiday spending survey, the average U.S. consumer is set to spend $1,063 in nominal terms on holiday-related purchases in this year, up 7.9% from $985 in 2023. This year’s spending also well exceeds the average 2022 holiday shopping tally of $1,006 and 2021’s $1,022.
But Conference Board chief economist Dana M. Peterson notes when this year’s expected holiday spending rate is adjusted for inflation, the rise is somewhat less significant.
“The Holiday Spending Survey shows Americans are relatively upbeat about gift-giving and celebrating this year,” Peterson wrote in last month’s report. “However, several years of high inflation have raised price levels, reducing purchasing power. Once accounting for inflation, planned holiday spending remains below pre-pandemic levels. Indeed, most consumers expect gifts and food prices to be higher this year than last year.”
In a new Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics statewide survey, Utahns shared insights on their holiday spending plans and, generally, their approach reflects cautious optimism when it comes to checking off gift list items this time around.
While around 1-in-10 survey participants said they’re taking a pass on holiday spending this year, the rest estimate they’ll be shelling out an average of $931.60 with median expected holiday spending for respondents coming in at $500.
A plurality of Utahns, 42%, told pollsters they’ll be spending about what they did last year for the winter holidays while 37% said they’ll be spending less and 21% reported they’re upping the ante for 2024.
The Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics poll was conducted November 26-December 5 by HarrisX of 854 adults of which 826 were registered Utah voters. Survey data has a plus or minus 3.4% margin of error.
The new survey finds keeping up with the bills is an issue on the minds of Utah shoppers and there’s plenty of cause for the shared concern.
Consumer debt continues to rise and the latest data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York finds overall U.S. household debt hit nearly $18 trillion at the end of the third quarter this year. Among the fastest growing categories in that debt portfolio is credit card balances which grew by $24 billion to $1.17 trillion in the third quarter, a rise of 8.1% from the same time a year ago. New York Fed analysts noted the “elevated balance levels continue to reveal stress for many households” in their quarterly debt report.
While U.S. credit card holders as of last month were carrying an average $6,194 balance, according to data compiled by Experian and reported by CNBC, Utah credit card users came in well below that mark with an average outstanding balance of $5,600.
An overwhelming majority of poll respondents, 90%, report they have no plans to apply for new credit cards to help with holiday shopping and while 16% said they were still paying off debt from last year’s shopping, 84% said their 2023 holiday-related credit card debt has been retired.
About a third of Utahns, 32%, who participated in the survey said they won’t be using credit to cover holiday expenditures this year but among those who will charge holiday purchases, 35% report they will pay their balances right away. The other third of poll participants said they’ll be pushing out their holiday credit card debt repayment for a while, with 9% reporting they’ll pay their balances by New Year’s, 16% by spring of next year and 8% sometime later in 2025.
