Back-to-school: Families spend more on shoes than on pencils, paper

The Retail Federation is out today with a report that looks at projected spending on back-to-school shopping in 2013. Retailers expect the average family to spend $634.78 on clothes and school supplies for kids, down from $688.62 last year (which was a record year for spending).

Back-to-school spending is the second-busiest time of the year for stores, after the holidays. And after retailers reported disappointing June sales figures, a paltry o.4 percent increase from May, analysts said they were hoping for a strong shopping season in the late summer to make up for it. 

The National Retail Federation even breaks down its back-to-school numbers by item — the average family is spending $90 on pencils, paper and crayons, and $114.39 on shoes.