WASHINGTON — The average consumer is expected to increase their Halloween spending by more than $5 this year as compared to last year, according to the National Retail Federation’s Halloween Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey, conducted by BIGresearch. It projects the average consumer will spend $64.82 on the holiday, including $19.84 for candy, $17.73 for decorations, $23.33 for costumes and $3.92 for greeting cards. Total spending is expected to reach $5.07 billion. The survey’s findings also indicate the most popular Halloween activity this year will be handing out candy, with nearly three-fourths (72.9%) of consumers planning to stay home to hand out treats. Other popular activities will include pumpkin carving (43.3%), decorating a home and/or yard (47.8%) and throwing or attending a Halloween party (28.3%). And in 2006, American consumers spent $3.2 billion buying Halloween decorations, which is more than 21% over sales in 2005, according to a new study from Unity Marketing here called "The Seasonal Decorations Report, 2007." "We expect this Halloween season to be even stronger thanks to people's fascination with ghosts and the supernatural spawned by popular cable shows like the Travel Channel's ‘Most Haunted’ and SciFi's ‘Ghost Hunters,’” said Pam Danziger, president of Unity Marketing.

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