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First Data report: Prepaid gift card market healthy at mid-year
Atlanta -- According to a report released Thursday by First Data Corp., the prepaid gift-card market has remained healthy during the first half of 2011, despite a sluggish economy.
The 2011 Midyear Gift Card update showed that the gift card market experienced a higher rate of growth than U.S. consumer spending.
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Halloween forecast is frighteningly good
So much for the weak economy. A record number of people, 161 million to be precise, are expected to celebrate Halloween this year, according to the National Retail Federations annual survey.
NRF has been conducting the consumer intentions and actions survey for 10 years and the outlook for this year is the brightest ever with average spending per person expected to increase to $72.31 from $66.28 last year.