CHARLOTTE, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Wells Fargo Securities, part of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC), published its annual Holiday Sales Outlook, forecasting a positive outlook for retailers this holiday season. Wells Fargo economists predict a 3.4 percent increase in holiday sales this year, and expect the average holiday shopper to spend more money this season.

"Economic conditions and consumer confidence continue to improve as we head into the holiday shopping season," said economist Michael Brown who co-authored the report with senior economist Eugenio Aleman, both part of Wells Fargo Securities Economics. "The National Retail Federation's holiday spending survey found that the average holiday shopper is expected to spend 0.4 percent more per person than they did last year."

Aleman added, "In addition to holiday spending, we expect overall retail sales to rise 2.6 percent in the fourth quarter, compared to the same period last year. We anticipate a happy holiday season for retailers and consumers alike."

As part of holiday sales, Wells Fargo economists are seeing the most sales strength in furniture and home furnishings, clothing and clothing accessories, and non-store retailers, which includes online retailers. Some of the weaker sectors compared to last year includes automobiles, electronics and appliance stores.

To read Wells Fargo's full 2015 Holiday Sales Outlook, please visit https://www08.wellsfargomedia.com/assets/pdf/commercial/insights/economics/special-reports/holiday-sales-outlook-20151116.pdf. For more information about the Wells Fargo Securities' Economics team, visit www.wellsfargo.com/economics.

About Wells Fargo Securities

Wells Fargo Securities delivers a comprehensive set of capital markets and advisory products and services, including debt and equity origination and distribution, investment research and economic insights, interest rate, commodity and equity risk management, structured lending facilities, securitization, prime brokerage, clearing and fund services.

Wells Fargo Securities is comprised of nearly 4,800 team members in 40+ offices across North America, Europe and Asia.

About Wells Fargo

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) is a nationwide, diversified, community-based financial services company with $1.8 trillion in assets. Founded in 1852 and headquartered in San Francisco, Wells Fargo provides banking, insurance, investments, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance through 8,700 locations, 12,800 ATMs, the internet (wellsfargo.com) and mobile banking, and has offices in 36 countries to support customers who conduct business in the global economy. With approximately 265,000 team members, Wells Fargo serves one in three households in the United States. Wells Fargo & Company was ranked No. 30 on Fortune's 2015 rankings of America's largest corporations. Wells Fargo's vision is to satisfy our customers' financial needs and help them succeed financially. Wells Fargo perspectives are also available at Wells Fargo Blogs and Wells Fargo Stories.

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