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Economists Watching How Housing Slowdown will Affect Shopping Season

For shoppers, the day after Thanksgiving is the opportunity to snap up some deals. But for some economists the coming holiday season will be more of a litmus test. That’s according to Ryan Ratcliffe

For shoppers, the day after Thanksgiving is the opportunity to snap up some deals. But for some economists the coming holiday season will be more of a litmus test. That’s according to Ryan Ratcliffe with the UCLA Anderson Forecast who says he’s looking at how the state’s housing slowdown will play out in consumer behavior.

Ratcliffe: A lot of eyes looking at whether a slowdown in appreciation will have an effect on spending behavior.

As for what Ratcliffe thinks? He predicts only a slight effect.

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Ratcliffe: The slowdown that we’ve seen in the overall economy is going to dampen retail sales a little bit compared to what we had last year but I don’t think it’s going to be, you know that everyone’s going to stay home and not buy a Play Station three.

The day after Thanksgiving is traditionally considered the kick-off to holiday shopping, and is known as “Black Friday” when many retailers first chart profits for the year.