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Holiday spending expected to be up despite low consumer confidence

By Alina Selyukh,

Leila Fadel

Published December 26, 2025 at 3:40 AM CST

Holiday spending was higher than expected this year, despite low confidence in the economy and many people reporting tightening their budgets.

Alina Selyukh

Alina Selyukh is a business correspondent at NPR, where she follows the path of the retail and tech industries, tracking how America's biggest companies are influencing the way we spend our time, money, and energy.

Leila Fadel

Leila Fadel is a host of Morning Edition, as well as NPR's morning news podcast Up First.