MIDWAY through the holiday shopping season, U.S. consumers are finding that their budgets aren’t stretching as far as they had expected. More than a third of holiday shoppers say they’re now planning on spending more than they had anticipated in September, according to a survey released Monday from Deloitte LLP. Of that group, 41 percent said the reason for this was because of higher prices. That’s up from 27 percent who said the same in 2020. Inflation has been a central issue this holiday season as retailers grapple with the extent to which they will pass along higher costs to consumers. Already, prices have been rising for many types of products amid elevated commodity costs, supply-chain logjams and shallower discounts. Despite the threats to consumer confidence, the situation isn’t putting the brakes on spending. Holiday sales could grow 7 percent to 9 percent this year, according to a projection that Deloitte released in September. But that kind of growth could be hard to achieve if consumers can’t find gifts to buy. The supply problems mean many items aren’t in stock, particularly in key gift categories like electronics, apparel and toys. Sixty-three percent of shoppers surveyed by Deloitte said they have already experienced a stockout situation. (SD-Agencies) | 