Wells Fargo Economists: Happy Holidays Ahead for Stores, Shoppers

Wells Fargo Securities, part of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC), published its annual Holiday Sales Outlook report, providing a positive outlook for retailers this holiday season. Wells Fargo economists predict an increase of 3.9 percent in holiday sales, compared to last year. The prediction stems from a combination of continued employment growth, lower gas prices, and an increase in consumer confidence.

“Despite a historically short holiday shopping season of only 27 days this year, economic conditions have continued to improve and should provide a better footing for U.S. consumers this holiday season,” said economist Michael Brown who co-authored the report with senior economist Eugenio Aleman, both part of Wells Fargo Securities.

Aleman added, “The unemployment rate has dropped significantly from this time last year and consumers are feeling optimistic about the economy. We anticipate a happy holiday season for retailers and consumers alike.”

As part of holiday sales, they anticipate the nonretailer and e-commerce, health and personal care, and food and drink sectors to show the most strength this season. In addition to holiday spending, Wells Fargo economists predict a 4.1 percent increase year-over-year in overall spending for the fourth quarter.

For more information about the Wells Fargo Securities’ Economics team, please visit www.wellsfargo.com/economics.

About Wells Fargo Securities

Wells Fargo Securities delivers a comprehensive set of capital markets and advisory products and services, including debt and equity origination and distribution, investment research and economic insights, interest rate, commodity and equity risk management, structured lending facilities, securitization, prime brokerage, clearing and fund services.

Wells Fargo Securities is comprised of nearly 4,800 team members in 40-plus offices across North America, Europe and Asia.

About Wells Fargo

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) is a nationwide, diversified, community-based financial services company with $1.6 trillion in assets. Founded in 1852 and headquartered in San Francisco, Wells Fargo provides banking, insurance, investments, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance through more than 8,700 locations, 12,500 ATMs, and the internet (wellsfargo.com), and has offices in 36 countries to support customers who conduct business in the global economy. With approximately 265,000 team members, Wells Fargo serves one in three households in the United States. Wells Fargo & Company was ranked No. 29 on Fortune’s 2014 rankings of America’s largest corporations. Wells Fargo’s vision is to satisfy all our customers’ financial needs and help them succeed financially. Wells Fargo perspectives are also available at Wells Fargo Blogs and Wells Fargo Stories.