Poll: Consumers to spend more on gifts

U.S. consumers are expected to spend slightly more on gifts this holiday season compared with 2013 spending, but the spending doesn’t match the levels recorded before the recession, according to a Gallup survey released Monday. 

Consumers are expected to spend an average of $720 on gifts this year, up from the $704 average recorded last year. 

The new prediction less optimistic than the findings of an October Gallup poll placing the anticipated per-person spending at $781 this season. 

{mosads}Gallup said the new prediction is also well below the November survey from earlier years, including 2006 and 2007, when people spent more than $800 on presents. 

This year, a quarter of people plan to spend $1000 or more on gifts and just under a quarter plan to buy $250 worth of presents. Twenty-one percent said they will spend at least $500 and 15 percent said they will dole out between $250 and $499.

Nine percent of people told Gallup they don’t plan on spending anything this year or don’t plan on celebrating Christmas. 

Sales are expected to go up 3 percent this year, but it barely hits the 14-year average of 3.1 percent, Gallup said.

The poll surveyed 1,019 adults between Nov. 19-20 with a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.