host: michael niemira. guest: well, certainly, gasoline prices cut into discretionary spending power of the consumer. but it is not the only thing. at times, and probably in the 2006-2007 period, you saw that the ups and downs and gasoline prices were mirrored in consumer confidence and expectations for inflation. you saw the same ripple effect and spending. at a different time, you have less of a connect but you do not have as much of a connect with actual spending not hurting disposable spending, but there are other things that are probably more positive, helping. it is a worry if we start to see gasoline prices continue to move higher in 2011. we do think at that will ultimately cut into spending. but other factors are all set. at least in 2011. keep in mind the payroll tax does no -- the payroll tax alone will put $112 billion back in the hands of workers, and ultimately consumers. that is probably far more important right now. there is the concern of the psychological impact of rising gasoline prices a

also, eric hall and michael niemira. >> it did a three-day holiday weekend on "booktv." er, michael korda, -- find the complete holiday schedule at booktv.org. signup to get our schedule in nailed to your in box. >> the c-span network. we provide coverage of political affairs and american history. it is available to you on television, radio, online, and on social immediate networking site. find our content any time on c- span bawdry video library. we take c-span on the road with our local content vehicle. it is washington your way -- the c-span networks. now available in more than 100 million homes. >> on wednesday, the senate passed a bill to compensate 9/11 rescue workers at ground zero in new york who became ill. the measure approved $4.20 billion over five years to pay for health coverage for affected workers. kristin senator's gillibrand and chuck schumer spoke at this news conference in washington. this is 45 minutes. [laughter] [applause] [crowd chanting "u.s.a."] [applause] >> you start with us through thick and thin. >> christmas is here. >> this is a day of cele

host: michael niemira is the chief economist and director of research for the international council of shopping centers. thank you for joining us to talk about 2011 and holiday season spending. that is the end of "washington journal" today. we will be here over the holiday weekend 8622 twitter followers on cspanwj. y'all are crazy. i don't know how you keep up with the conversations, but it is interesting to see it develop. three days of booktv. you can get a full schedule on booktv.org. enjoy your holiday weekend. ho[captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] and >> a live look at traffic capital this morning here on this thursday morning. the congress gaveled out for the last time yesterday. several items were sent to president obama's desk, among them "don't ask, don't tell," the repeal. the ratification of the u.s.- russian nuclear arms deal, known as the start treaty. $4 billion for 9/11 first responders. the next congress calm and on wednesday, january 5. you can see the senate here on c-span. the house is on c-

michael niemira, give us your prediction for 2011, some macro figures. guest: we're basically looking for a piece of real growth at a little bit above the trend that i just spoke of. gdp growth of about 2.6%. when you start to look beneath the surface, we are more optimistic on some of the final sale categories. one of the key stories up until now was the strength has really been largely in inventory. inventory has been rebuilding about half of the growth we had since the recovery set in. that story is likely to change in 2011. the driver of the growth is likely to be different. it is starting to give some indication that the numbers are changing at hand. that is normal. in this case, it has been normally strong on the downside, the reduction, and the rebuilding. that is starting to moderate. 2011 is likely to see stronger final sales, stronger employment growth. we're looking for employment growth to average on a per-month basis by the fourth quarter of 2011 about 150,000 range. we look for slow employment growth to continue, but certainly an improvemen