Americans Plan to Spend $39 Billion on Yule Gifts

NEW YORK —  U.S. families plan to spend an estimated $39 billion on Christmas gifts this year, up 4% to 5% from last year, according to a survey by the Conference Board.

In its annual Christmas spending survey, released Sunday, the business-research organization found that American families expect to spend an average of $335 on Christmas gifts this season, with about half of all families spending more and half spending less.

The figures are based on a nationwide survey of 5,000 households.

“The prospects of a reasonably lively Christmas season should put to rest the irrepressible warnings that we may be moving into recession,” said Fabian Linden, executive director of the Conference Board’s Consumer Research Center. “As long as the consumer maintains a good level of spending, the economy is not likely to take a bad turn.”

The survey again showed families in New England to be the biggest Christmas spenders, with an average household expenditure of $422, although that level is 11% lower than last year.

Families in the West South Central region--Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas--plan to spend the least on Christmas gifts, an average $264.

Nationwide, about 65% of the total Christmas spendings will be made by families with annual income of at least $35,000, with the upper bracket of the $50,000-plus group expected to spend 40% of the total, the survey said.