Education

Back-to-School Spending is Big Business

By Mary-Ellen Phelps Deily — July 17, 2007 1 min read
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The National Retail Federation projects that back-to-school spending this year will exceed a whopping $18 billion.

According to the National Retail Federation’s 2007 Consumer Intentions and Actions Back-to-School survey, conducted by BIGresearch, American “families with school-age children are expected to spend $563.49 on back-to-school merchandise, up 6.9 percent from last year’s $527.08 average,” the NRF reports. Families will pay about $94 on average for school supplies, but the biggest uptick in costs will come in the electronics category, the federation says—projecting a rise to $129.24 per family this year from $114.38 last year. In the electronics category, Americans will purchase computers, printers, and software, as well as cellphones and other items.

A version of this news article first appeared in the Around the Web blog.