ENFIELD, Conn. (WFSB) – It’s expected to be a record-breaking year for holiday shopping.

The National Retail Federation released its holiday forecast today.

A Bankrate study found around 50% of people start their holiday shopping before Halloween.

But other people like Betsey Siemon like to get through Thanksgiving first.

“Just because I got through Thanksgiving and then I have enough time to think about Christmas,” Siemon said.

This year, there will be less time. There are only 26 days between Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve.

That’s 6 fewer days than last year.

The National Retail Federation says retailers have been preparing for this shortened season but it could still put pressure on the supply chain and shipping gifts.

The NRF also predicts people will be buying more.

“I’ll spend more just because basically everything is more expensive, so the dollar value, right?” asked Siemon.

The NRF announced Tuesday it expects holiday sales to increase between 2.5 and 3.5% compared to last year.

Current overall inflation is 2.4%, so some of the increase may be due to the increase in prices overall.

If the forecast comes true that would mean record-breaking holiday sales between 980 and 990 billion dollars.

For Shannon Burke of Canton, she doesn’t focus so much on the numbers but instead on the holiday spirit.

“I love buying gifts for everybody. I think the people who deserve it really do deserve it, so I try to do either gift-buying or crocheting. I crochet a lot of personalized items for close family members and things like that,” Burke said.

The NRF predicts retailers will hire between 400,000 and 500,000 seasonal workers, which is a similar amount to last year.

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