Halloween is just around the corner, but for the National Retail Federation it is beginning to look a lot like Christmas with the retail industry expecting better-than-average sales this holiday season.

NRF is forecasting retail sales in November and December to increase "a solid 3.7 percent" this year compared to the same time period last year. That is above the 10-year average of 2.5 percent, but still below last year's increase of 4.1 percent from the year before.

Holiday sales in 2015 are expected to reach $630.5 billion, accounting for roughly 19 percent of a forecasted $3.2 trillion overall. NRF also is forecasting online sales to increase 6 to 8 percent this year.

"With several months of solid retail sales behind us, we're heading into the all-important holiday season fully expecting to see healthy growth," said NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay.

However, he noted that Americans remain divided between their desire and capability to spend, with the economy still very much on their minds.

"We expect families to spend prudently and deliberately, though still less constrained than what we saw even two years ago," he said. http://bit.ly/1FZQxRk

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