Budgets/Spending/Market Size

New York -- Thirty-eight percent of shoppers are likely to shop on Thanksgiving Day this year, according to Accenture’s annual Holiday Shopping Survey. Of those shoppers planning to hit the stores on Thanksgiving, 41% said they will be out shopping between 6 p.m. Thanksgiving Day and 5 a.m. the next morning.

New York -- Procrastinating is out this year when it comes to holiday shopping, with most consumers (62%) planning to finish their gift buying on or before Dec. 16, according to a survey by the International Council of Shopping Centers.

As in most years, the top shopping day of the year is expected to be Black Friday. However, Cyber Monday will follow close behind across most demographic groups, overtaking Super Saturday as the second busiest holiday shopping day of the year.

Procrastinating is out this year when it comes to holiday shopping, with 62% of consumers surveyed planning to finish their gift buying on or before Dec. 16, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers.

As in most years, the top shopping day of the year is expected to be Black Friday. However, Cyber Monday will follow close behind across most demographic groups, overtaking Super Saturday as the second busiest holiday shopping day of the year.

Chicago — Employment growth in science, technology, engineering and mathematics and the continuing recovery in the U.S. housing market have begun to affect all sectors of commercial real estate, according to Jones Lang LaSalle’s “Cross Sector Outlook.”

Total sector commercial real estate volumes in the first three quarters of 2013 have reached $208.82 billion, an increase of 30% over the same period in 2012, said the report.

Shopper activity increased this October, in line with ShopperTrak expectations. Total retail store shopper traffic increased 2.4% compared to September 2013. Consumers who were off work for the Columbus Day holiday (Monday, Oct. 14) took advantage of store promotions to update their cold-weather wardrobes. Many others hit the stores to gather costumes, candies and other necessities for Halloween (Thursday, Oct. 31).

Reston, Va. – U.S. desktop-based e-commerce sales grew year-over-year to $47.5 billion during the third quarter of 2013, marking the 16th consecutive quarter of positive year-over-year growth and 12th consecutive quarter of double-digit growth. In addition, newly released comScore data shows that e-commerce spending on smartphones and tablets added $5.8 billion for the quarter, up 26% from year ago, for a total digital commerce spending total of $53.2 billion in the third quarter.

Washington, D.C. – The National Retail Federation calculated retail industry job gains at 37,600 in October 2013, and 295,000 year-over-year, a 2.4% increase from 2012. Job gains were seen in every retail sector with the exception of clothing and clothing stores, which witnessed a contraction of 12,500 positions in September.

In its annual holiday sales and employment forecast, NRF predicted that retailers would see a 3.9% increase in sales and hire an additional 720,000 to 780,000 employees this holiday season.

San Jose, Calif. -- Despite the shortest shopping season since 2002, online sales look strong for the upcoming holidays. A new survey from Adobe predicts record growth for online sales on Thanksgiving with $1.1 billion and Black Friday with $1.6 billion, increases of 21% and 17%, respectively.