ROANOKE, Va. – Spending has been stable the past couple years at $900 on average per person a new Roanoke College Poll shows that Virginians plan to spend $200 more this holiday season.
Roanoke College’s Institute for Policy and Opinion Research released its annual holiday spending report Tuesday.
The poll found that people plan to spend around $1100 on on holiday gifts that uptick is for two main reasons:
- Inflation, things cost more so you have to cough up more cash
- Wages are finally growing faster than inflation
Dr. Alice Kassens with Roanoke College says pay is up 3.9% on average.
“People seem to be feeling financially secure... they have some power in the market,” Kassens said.
Another reason for the increased spending is people are feeling more generous this year, they also said they would do more in-person shopping not just online.
So that’s good for local businesses.