February is here and love is in the air. Love doesn’t cost a think but everything around it sure does. The spending on the Valentine’s Day is expected to drop 4.8 percent to $28.6 billion this year compared with 2008, as lovers prefer to choose candy and cards rather than bouquets and jewelry, according to the latest research from IBIS World.

IBIS World is headquartered in Los Angeles and is recognized as one of the nation's most trusted independent sources of industry and market research, offering an inclusive database of trends and market analysis on every U.S. industry.

IBIS World also includes that the Valentine’s Day spending will fall below the level of spending predicted for the total U.S. retail sector over the first quarter of 2009.

IBIS World Senior Analyst George Van Horn said in a media release that, “Valentine's Day is more of a discretionary occasion than Christmas and birthdays, which means it will be hit particularly hard by the current economic climate". He continues, "Tightening household budgets will make it difficult to justify splurging on loved ones this year, especially for couples with children who have just had to budget for the Christmas holiday."

IBIS World expects big budget items such as diamonds, jewelry, expensive dinners, lingerie, bouquets, roses and weekend get-together to suffer, as many couples forgo pricier gifts for a simple box of chocolates or cookies and a card. They opt for some inexpensive ways to celebrate like cooking a romantic dinner at home or writing a love letter or a poem.

Greeting cards and candy sales are expected to increase 1.1 percent and 0.9 percent where as the Jewelry sales, in particular, are expected to drop 5.1 percent to $1,475 million, compared with $1,555 million for Valentine's Day 2008, respectively, according to IBIS world.

“Overall, dining out is likely to still be the most popular way to indulge a loved one, representing 41 percent of overall Valentine's Day sales," Van Horn said.

For more information, visit the company's Web site, IbisWorld.com, or call (800) 330-3772.

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