National Retail Federation Projects Average Holiday Season

The National Retail Federation, a retail trade group, today said that it expects this year’s holiday season to be average. The projection from the retail trade group came even as major retailers, including Target Corporation (NYSE: TGT) and Macy’s Inc. (NYSE: M) reported solid September sales results.

The National Retail Federation said that retail sales in the holiday season, which includes the months of November and December, are expected to increase 2.8% to $465.6 billion. Although the sales growth forecast is less than last year’s 5.2% sales growth, the group noted that it is higher than the ten-year average holiday sales growth of 2.6%.

The trade group expects retailers to hire 480,000 to 500,000 seasonal workers in the holiday season this year, in-line with last year’s 495,000 hires.

Meanwhile, major U.S. retailers today released their sales results for the month of September. According to the International Council of Shopping Centers, revenue climbed 5.5% in the month of September, with retailers such as Target, Limited Brands (NYSE: LTD) and Kohl’s (NYSE: KSS) posting solid gains.

Kohl’s Corporation, which saw sales drop in the month of August, reported better than expected sales results in September. The company reported 4.1% increase in same store sales, beating analysts’ expectations.

Discount retailer Target Corporation, meanwhile, posted a 5.3% increase in same-store sales for the month of September. This is the biggest monthly increase registered by Target in almost four years. The company’s sales results were boosted by strong sales of groceries, beauty products and clothing. The company also benefited from an increase in sales of its exclusive limited-time only Missoni by Target line of clothing, home furnishings and other stuff designed by Italian designer Missoni.

Target CEO Gregg Steinhafel said that the company experienced strong sales results throughout the month and across a broad array of merchandise categories.

Limited Brands also posted solid results for the month. The company’s same store sales grew 11% in September.

Post Written By: Ed Liston Ed Liston is a senior contributing editor at TheStockMarketWatch.com. An active market watcher and investor, Ed guides an independent team of experienced analysts and writes for multiple stock trader publications. He is widely quoted in various financial publications on the Internet. When Ed is not writing about stocks, investing in stocks, talking about stocks, or otherwise doing something stock related, he likes to go sailing and fishing in his yacht.