UPDATED Dec. 8, 2014 -- Dealmakers polled in October predicted that the rate of expansion of M&A in the consumer goods and retail sector would be lower than transactions in the overall market over the next year, according to the Mergers & Acquisitions’ Mid-Market Pulse (MMP), a forward-looking sentiment indicator derived from monthly surveys of approximately 250 executives published in partnership with McGladrey LLP. The National Retail Federation expects sales in November and December to increase 4.1 percent to $616.9 billion, which would be the best performance for the sector during the holiday season since 2011.

The 3-month composite score on the MMP for consumer goods and retail of 48.5 lags behind the overall market score of 63.0. Dealmakers were more hopeful about the intermediate-term future. The 12-month composite score for the sector was 58.7, but still lower than the 62.6 score for overall M&A. Among the six high-growth industries measured by the MMP, consumer goods and retail came in last place – behind health care; technology, media and telecommunications (TMT); manufacturing; finance, insurance and real estate (FIRE) and energy. 

Note: The 3-month composite score on the MMP for consumer goods and retail is 48.5, not 70.0, as reported in an earlier version of this article.