The National Retail Federation projects that holiday sales will grow between 6% and 8% compared with last year, or to between nearly $943 billion and $960 billion, said Matt Shay, the trade association's CEO.
That contrasts with nearly $890 billion in retail sales last year on record growth of 13.5%.
Why it matters: If NRF numbers prove out, it's an indicator that consumers are willing to at least maintain spending when factoring into inflation.
The trade association's projection helps set expectations for the all-important holiday season, when retailers are said to go into the black.
Of note: NRF says it looks at consumer spending between Nov. 1 and ends Dec. 31. Its projections exclude auto, gas and restaurants.
Details: E-commerce sales specifically are expected to grow between 10% and 12% or between nearly $263 billion and almost $268 billion. year-over-year, up from $239 billion last year.
While inflation and rising interest rates will impact holiday spending, consumers are willing to take on extra credit or debt to support spending, Shay says.
Importantly, they will be looking for bargains to offset the rise in prices, he adds.
Meanwhile: Seasonal hiring is expected to be between 450,000 to 600,000 versus about 670,000 last year.
Amazon will pause hiring people for new positions in its corporate workforce for "the next few months" in response to the economy being "in an uncertain place," the company said Wednesday in a memo.
Why it matters: The news comes after the company announced last month it would freeze corporate hiring in its retail business for the rest of the year, per the New York Times.
Sixth Street on Thursday said it's raised $3.6 billion for its second growth equity fund and $800 million for a first-time fund to invest in smaller growth deals.
Why it matters: Fundraising continues to run hot, in spite of recession fears, LP denominator effects and deal size shrinkage.
Private equity's largest trade group is favoring Republicans in this year's midterm elections, based on an Axios analysis of contributions made by its political action committee.
By the numbers: The American Investment Council's PAC donated around 55% of its nearly $300,000 in cycle dollars to GOP candidates and committees.
With more leftists coming to power across Latin America, the idea of a single shared currency is a hot topic again.
It has been leftist politicians in particular, Brazilian President-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva among them, who have championed a single currency as necessary to reduce dependency on the dollar, but the idea is likely to face many challenges, analysts say.
Just as Instagram, the biggest social network for looking at pictures, opens up to non-fungible token sales, it looks like the potential for NFT's to provide artists with recurring income is fading.
The big picture: Fewer and fewer marketplaces are honoring artist royalties — a payment that rewards creators during secondary sales — built into NFTs.
While honoring Judy Woodruff at the New York Women in Communications Matrix Awards, longtime CBS correspondent Lesley Stahl said, "No one asks tougher questions. No one listens better and therefore comes back with the perfect follow-up. ... She is a brilliant interviewer."
Why it matters: To be a great journalist, you have to be an effective communicator — and Woodruff is both.
Meta's Instagram will soon allow artists to create and sell their own NFTs both right on the social media platform and off it.
Why it matters: Big Tech wants in on crypto, and the social media juggernaut's entry into NFTs points to growing competition between marketplaces in spite of dwindling trading volumes and falling prices.
The Bank of England raised interest rates by three-quarters of a percentage point on Thursday — the largest increase in 33 years, as the central bank battles double-digit inflation.
Why it matters: It's the latest central bank — following the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank — to deliver a jumbo-sized rate increase as officials take aggressive steps to tame soaring costs.
It wasn't quite a pivot, but investors were initially pleased to see the Fed's policy statement flick at the possibility that it could slow — or even pause — its rate hikes. Then came the presser.
Driving the news: Markets whipsawed in the aftermath of another 0.75 percentage point rate hike on Wednesday — the sixth hike of the year. Stocks first rose on the statement, then flopped during and after Fed chair Jerome Powell's post-announcement press conference.
Driving the news: This was the 39th consecutive Powerball drawing without a grand-prize winner and makes Saturday's drawing the nation's third-largest lottery jackpot.
The big picture: Consumers' appetite for saving with loyalty programs is growing as inflation keeps going up and restaurants continue to raise prices. In many cases, deals are now reserved only for reward members and through apps.
Elon Musk's chaotic new Twitter arrives with a distinct echo of Donald Trump's old White House.
The big picture: The world already knew that Musk's shoot-from-the-hip Twitter posting style recalled the former president's. Now it appears that Musk's management approach owes a debt to the former president as well.
Google's research arm on Wednesday showed off a whiz-bang assortment of artificial intelligence (AI) projects it's incubating, aimed at everything from mitigating climate change to helping novelists craft prose.
Why it matters: AI has breathtaking potential to improve and enrich our lives — and comes with hugely worrisome risks of misuse, intrusion and malfeasance, if not developed and deployed responsibly.
Former President Trump filed a lawsuit against New York Attorney General Letitia James in Florida Wednesday, alleging that she's abused her position and embarked on a "war of intimidation and harassment" against him.
Driving the news: The lawsuit, filed in Palm Beach County where the former president resides, is seeking to prevent James from obtaining records from a trust that holds ownership of the Trump Organization, which he argues she has "no authority" to do as it's "governed by Florida law and sited in Florida."
Wednesday's Powerball jackpot is an estimated $1.2 billion, the second largest in the game's 30-year history and the nation's fourth-largest lottery prize.
Driving the news: 2022 is the year of the rolling lottery jackpot and there have been 38 consecutive Powerball drawings without a grand-prize winner.
A captain in the Los Angeles Police Department tipped off former CBS chief executive Leslie Moonves after a woman filed a confidential criminal sexual assault complaint against him, and then helped him cover up the allegation, according to a report from New York Attorney General Letitia James, released Wednesday.
Why it matters: Part of a multimillion settlement agreement with Moonves and the network, the report offers a clear picture of the culture of corruption a truly powerful leader can foster — when the police, industry strivers and corporate board rooms work to protect them.
This article originally appeared in Axios Finish Line, our nightly newsletter on life, leadership and wellness. Sign up here.
There are two kinds of people: those who get to the airport with hours to spare, browse retailer Hudson News and grab a snack, and those who dash through security, yanking their belts on, and bound for the gate with two minutes to spare.
Why it matters: How people approach the airport gives us clues about their personality and past.
Twitter, which is expected to lay off a third or more of its staff as soon as Friday, also plans to require its remaining staffers to return to physical offices full time, sources tell Axios.
Why it matters: The move is a sharp reversal of Twitter's current policy of letting employees work remotely on a permanent basis, and sources inside the company say that many employees can’t or won’t be willing to relocate, resulting in additional attrition beyond the layoffs.
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