Holiday Sales to Grow Slow

NRF has come out with their holiday sales projections and they are calling for a 4.0 percent gain. That's interesting because it's lower than the number the group recorded last year--a 4.6 percent gain (in contrast with its projection of a 5.0 percent gain). It's also interesting because NRF--which counts total sales and doesn't adjust the figures--usually has an inflated number in comparison to ICSC's same-store sales stats, the Commerce Department and some other group's metrics.

So if NRF is calling for a 4 percent gain, that means the actual growth may be much lower than that.