Special to the Enquirer  

Holiday spending in Alabama should near $18 billion, growing 5% from last year’s record-shattering spending.
Alabamians spent 15.4 percent more during November and December 2021 than they did during the same period in 2020, which was the highest holiday growth rate ever for the state. 

Through August 2022, taxed sales in Alabama had grown 8% over the same eight months in 2021, based on Alabama Revenue Department abstracts. 

As Alabama Retail projected earlier this year, sales have continued to grow in Alabama, just at a slower pace than the exponential increase the state saw in 2021. Growth was at 8% in the first quarter and at 7 percent in the first half of 2022.  Nationally, the U.S. economy grew 2.6 percent in the third quarter. 

A 5 percent growth rate in the traditional holiday spending months would put taxed spending at $17.9 billion in our state. In the final two months of 2021, Alabamians spent $17 billion.