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When you buy that box of chocolates today on this Valentine’s Day, you’re showing more than your love for your sweetheart, you’re boosting the U.S. economy.

Even with our slow recovery, we Americans are set to spend a record $18.6 billion today.  

Flower shops, jewelry stores and online dating sites are all expecting to cash in on this day of love. Managers with Merb's Candies in St. Louis tells KTRS news they sell 7 pounds of chocolate-covered strawberries to one pound of  other confectionaries.

KTRS' Michael Golde reports workers at Walter Knoll Florist's Distribution Center at Chouteau and California in St. Louis city sell 55,0000 roses, fills 4400 orders with 100 extra drivers hired to make deliveries today. Walter Knoll says,"All orders placed are delivered by noon today." But Knoll says procrastinators can still stop by one of their stores. They have plenty of roses on hand. "We have lots of great product and they can pick out what they like and take it with them."

According to the 2013 National Retail Federation Valentine’s Day spending survey, the average American is expected to spend $130.97 on gifts, a slight increase from last year.