Holiday shopping expected to show weakest growth since 2002

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Holiday shopping expected to show weakest growth since 2002

Story Published: Oct 6, 2008 at 10:17 AM EST

Story Updated: Oct 6, 2008 at 10:17 AM EST

NEW YORK (AP) - Experts say the turmoil in the financial markets
could prompt some parents to cut back on spending in the holiday
season.

Consumers are already battling high food and gas costs and slumping job and housing markets. Analysts say they could be focusing this season on less-expensive toys and consider which toys will get the most use.

The National Retail Federation predicts holiday sales overall will rise 2.2 percent, the slowest growth since 2002. Experts predict the hottest toys will be items like the Bakugan trading card game popular with boys, interactive toys such as Elmo Live and gaming consoles like the Nintendo Wii.

In addition, there are five fewer shopping days between Thanksgiving and Christmas, compared to last year.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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Wednesday, Oct 15 at 8:23 PM George Tussen wrote ...

www.FunWithElmo.com has a bunch of news articles about the new Elmo Live toy.

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