LANSING – Fifty-six percent of 600 likely voters polled by Lambert, Edwards and Associates said they believe the state economy is headed in the right direction – a 9 percent increase from those who thought the same in July – but only 11 percent of those polled plan to spend more than they did last year during the holiday season.
Slightly more than half, 51 percent, said they would spend the same amount as last year’s holiday season, and 36 percent planned on spending less, a poll released Tuesday by Lambert, Edwards and Associates and Denno Research found.
Twenty-nine percent of those polled said the state’s economy was on the wrong track, down drastically from 41 percent when last asked in July.
Meanwhile, retailers expect holiday sales to increase 1.3 percent over last year, according to the Michigan Retail Index. Fifty-three percent expect to increased sales, 30 percent predict flat sales and 17 percent project sales will decline.
“Retailers and consumers seem to be on the same page this year as far as shopping expectations,” Denno Research CEO Dennis Denno said in a statement regarding the poll. “The upward trend is slight, but it reflects that 62 percent of people expect to spend the same or more as last year, a positive sign.”
The telephone poll of 600 likely voters conducted statewide between November 12 and November 14 by Denno Research had a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
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