Americans are planning to spend less money on holiday shopping this year as confidence in the U.S. economy sinks to a new low.
The new Gallup poll, released Thursday, found that its Economic Confidence Index (ECI) fell seven points to -30 in November, which is the lowest since its -24 reading in July 2024. Gallup noted that when President Donald Trump was sworn into office earlier this year, the index stood at -19.
Just 21% of Americans described economic conditions as “excellent” or “good,” a slight drop from the 24% who said the same in October. Another 40% rated the economic conditions as “poor,” a 3-point jump from October.
The poll also showed Americans have low confidence in the labor market. Thirty-three percent of Americans in November said it was a good time to find a quality job, while 63% said it was a bad time.
The poll also found that holiday gift budgets shrunk by a record amount.
“Along with their heightened economic anxiety in November, consumers expressed much less of an appetite for holiday gift spending compared with earlier in the season,” the Gallup analysis stated.
Americans in November said they expect to spend an average of $778 on Christmas and other holiday gifts—a sharp $229 drop from October’s $1,007 estimate. The new figure is also below Americans’ estimates in November 2024, when they expected to spend an average of $1,012.
Gallup explained that while Americans tend to trim their budgets as the holiday season approaches, “this year’s midseason decline is the largest Gallup has recorded, surpassing the $185 drop seen during the 2008 global financial crisis.”
The significant drop in estimated spending came as the U.S. was exiting its longest government shutdown in its history. It also comes as Trump continues to tout his tariffs on many imported goods despite the risk of raising costs for U.S. consumers.
The poll was conducted Nov. 3-25 among 1,321 U.S. adults. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.