Holiday Shoppers Shrug Off Inflation Fears As Retail Sales Beat Forecasts
• Consumers still spending despite inflation and rates; holiday retail sales up 3.1%
• Economist not surprised given excess pandemic savings still available ($400B)
• 2024 predicted as start of "new normal" - soft landing with pre-pandemic growth
• But inflation expected to be higher (2-3%) due to demographics, labor, re-globalization
• Forecasts so far accurate - have been predicting this scenario for about a year