Several signs indicate that the recession may be over, but in a lengthy piece, Newsweek suggests that the recovery may not feel like much of a recovery for a very long time. Newsweek July 25, 2009
Plans for new terminals are being scrapped in favor of renovations, and just about any capital project that can be put off — whether for new gates, taxiways, roads or lights — is getting the red light. “At the Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International Airport, passengers are so scarce that a long-term parking lot will soon be [...]
Among the key causes: recession-hit families seeking out more food bargains and eating at home. The New York Times June 23, 2009
The National Retail Federation is forecasting a 0.5% reduction in U.S. retail sales this year, the first year-over-year decline in fourteen years. Bloomberg News National Retail Federation Jan. 27, 2009
Casting a pall over the Hoiday season, the Commerce Department reported Friday U.S. retail sales dropped by 2.8% in October, the largest monthly drop since it began keeping this particular, broad measure of retail sales in 1992. It was the fourth straight month of declines in consumer spending. The Wall Street Journal (Nov. 17, 2008) [...]
Weak consumer spending and tightening credit are leading to bankruptcies for retailers in the furniture and home goods categories. The New York Times (Apr. 15, 2008)
Some think the powerful, one-two combination will have magazine publishers and other “old media” companies on the ropes. Online advertising grew by 27 percent, to $25.5 billion, in 2007, but ad spending overall slowed to less than one percent in the fourth quarter. The silver lining? Presidential elections may generated some $3 billion in spending on political [...]
Same-store sales for the holiday period rang in at 3% over last year, instead of 4% as expected, and chains across retail categories are putting on the brakes — cutting back on inventory, cancelling new store openings and preparing for leaner times. Making the missed forecast worse is the fact that much of this year’s increase in spending [...]
Evidence mounts that consumers at all levels of the U.S. economy are curtailing spending, raising the possibility that the country may experience a rare decline in personal consumption, thanks in large part to a triple whammy: higher energy costs, falling home prices and a volatile stock market. The New York Times (Jan. 14, 2008)
“The U.S. economy in 2008 will be like a cat on a hot tin roof that has already used up eight of its nine lives,” according to a colorful quote from Stuart G. Hoffman of the PNC Financial Services Group. The WSJ’s survey of 55 economic forecasters now puts the odds of a recession at 42%. That’s up [...]