STEVE INSKEEP, host: NPR's business news starts with holiday shopping.</s>STEVE INSKEEP, host: We're not really in the holiday shopping season yet, but retailers are already looking forward to it and hoping it will be better than recent seasons.</s>STEVE INSKEEP, host: A new forecast from the National Retail Federation this morning predicts a modest 2.3 percent bump in holiday sales. If that prediction comes true, it would be the biggest increase in sales in four years. But it's not as if consumers are likely to go on a spending spree.</s>STEVE INSKEEP, host: Another survey from the consulting firm Accenture reports that 83 percent of consumers expect to spend the same or less on gifts, this year, than last year.
The National Retail Federation predicts a modest 2.3 percent bump in holiday sales. If that prediction comes true, it would be the biggest increase in sales in four years. But it's not as if consumers are likely to go on a spending spree. A survey from the consulting firm Accenture reports that 83 percent of consumers expect to spend the same or less on gifts this year than last.