The holiday season is bringing less joy to retailers this year, with 60% of adults nationally saying they plan to spend less on gifts. But how do those numbers play out in different states across the country as the effects of the bad economy are felt to different degrees?

This week in its polling Rasmussen Reports took a closer look at Illinois, Pennsylvania, Minnesota and Virginia to get a better sense of the nation’s economic realities.

Shoppers in Minnesota and Virginia are well ahead of the game but also plan to spend less than those in the other two states. Illinois shoppers plan to spend more, but they better get going.

While 10% nationally plan to spend more this holiday season than last year, 12% of adults in Pennsylvania and Virginia intend to do so. Fourteen percent (14%) of adults in Illinois, perhaps in a winning mood after their junior senator, Barack Obama, was elected president, plan to spend more this year.

In Minnesota, however, just nine percent (9%) are looking to spend more.

While nationally the percentages of men and women who plan to spend more this season are nearly identical, men in all four of these states - by five percentage points or more – intend to spend more than female shoppers.

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Adults in Illinois and Minnesota mirror the national number in terms of spending less, with 60% in both states saying that’s their intention. In Virginia, 62% of adults plan to spend less on holiday gifts this year, compared to 57% in Pennsylvania.

Women by four points over men plan to spend less this year, according to Rasmussen Reports’ newest national survey. In all four states, women plan to spend less, but Pennsylvania is the only state that closely approximates the national numbers, followed by Virginia where there’s a seven-point divide between the sexes.

In Minnesota, women by 19 points plan to spend less than men, and in Illinois the spread is 15 points.

Minnesota tops the national number in terms of those who plan to spend about the same amount this year. Nationally 27% say that’s their plan; in Minnesota, it’s 30%.

Twenty-six percent (26%) of Pennsylvania adults intend to spend the same amount as last year, but only 23% plan to do so in Illinois and Virginia.

As in the national numbers, men are slightly more likely than women to spend the same amount in Illinois and Pennsylvania. In Virginia the two groups are virtually identical. In Minnesota, 36% of men plan to spend the same versus 24% of women.

The Rasmussen Consumer Index, which measures the economic confidence of consumers on a daily basis, continues to hover around the lowest level ever recorded.

One-fourth of U.S. workers (24%) are worried about losing their jobs in the near future, too, according to the Rasmussen Employment Index, a monthly measure of U.S. worker confidence in the employment market.

Illinois shoppers are a little slower getting started than those in the other states. While nationally 42% have not begun their holiday shopping yet, 45% of adults in Illinois have yet to begin. The only other state even close is Pennsylvania where 38% haven’t started.

Adults in Minnesota (34%) and Virginia (32%) are earlier shoppers than most nationwide.

Fifty-four percent of adults (54%) nationally have begun to shop, but those in Minnesota (65%) and Virginia (63%) are again well ahead of that mark. By comparison, 58% in Pennsylvania and just 50% in Illinois have begun to hit the stores.

In all four states, women are ahead of men in terms of starting to shop for the holidays. In Minnesota and Virginia, they’re ahead by double digits, but the gap is narrower in Illinois and Pennsylvania. Over 50 percent of men in all the states but Illinois say they’ve begun their holiday shopping, compared to 47% nationwide.

The one thing adults in all four states have in common is that they’re doing better than the national numbers in terms of finishing their shopping. Nationally, 11% of adults say they’re finished for the holidays.

While 12% are done in Illinois and Virginia, 16% have finished their shopping in Pennsylvania, closely followed by 15% in Minnesota.

Eighty-four percent (84%) nationally have yet to finish their holiday shopping, with 83% of adults saying the same in Illinois and Minnesota. Shoppers in Pennsylvania (80%) and Virginia (81%) aren’t far behind.

The latest Rasmussen reports national survey shows a slight increase in the number of those who plan to spend more this year compared to the findings a month ago .

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