Ruh-Roh, Christmas!

American consumers plan on spending an average of $704 on holiday gifts this season – down from $770 a year ago (and down from $886 in 2008).

Ah, the “New Normal.” You gotta love it …

Only 26 percent of Americans say they will spend more than $1,000 on holiday shopping this year – down from 30 percent in 2012. Meanwhile 31 percent say they plan on spending less than $250 – up from 27 percent a year ago.

What do these new numbers mean for holiday shopping forecasts?

“In October, retailers tracked by Thomson Reuters reported 3.7 percent growth, on average, and U.S. chain store sales were up by 4.1 percent,” Gallup’s pollsters note. “However, according to Gallup modeling of the trends, consumers’ new scaled-back plans for 2013 suggest overall holiday spending — defined by the National Retail Federation as holiday shopping that occurs in November and December — now may be relatively anemic, increasing by only 1.7 percent to 2.4 percent over 2012.”

Translation?

“It seems the 99 percent are not cooperating with the 1 percent plan for economic recovery,” writes Jim Quinn at The Burning Platform.

Ruh-roh retailers! And ruh-roh “recovery!”

Anyway, here’s a look at the Gallup data …

What about you? What are your holiday spending plans? Vote in our poll and post your thoughts in our comments section below …