This from Bloomberg today:
“Confidence among U.S. consumers unexpectedly fell in October for a second month as Americans fretted about a lack of jobs.
The Conference Board’s confidence index dropped to 47.7 from a revised 53.4 in September, a report from the New York- based private research group showed today. A measure of employment availability deteriorated to a 26-year low.
Mounting unemployment threatens to restrain consumer spending entering the Christmas-holiday shopping season. Without a sustained rebound in the biggest part of the economy, the emerging recovery may fall short of expectations.
“There really isn’t any scope for us to see sustained gains in consumer spending for quite some time,” said Joshua Shapiro, chief U.S. economist at Maria Fiorini Ramirez Inc., a New York forecasting firm. “The labor market remains very weak.” Read more »
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This is a third excerpt from the October issue of “Moving Markets”, for a full complimentary copy visit www.usawealthmanagement.com.
Meanwhile, unemployment continues to climb. An October 1, 2009 story on ‘Bloomberg’ revealed first time jobless claims were up in the most recent week:
The number of Americans filing first-time claims for jobless benefits rose more than forecast last week, a sign companies are still cutting workers as the economy pulls out of the recession.
Read more »
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This is a second excerpt from the October issue of “Moving Markets”, for a full complimentary copy visit www.usawealthmanagement.com.
If the government keeps its word with no more bailouts (which would be a long odds bet in Vegas; probably a better chance of the Detroit Lions winning the Super Bowl), we could be in for some tough economic times. The reality is though, this may be the medicine we need as full economic recovery cannot occur until excess debt is properly dealt with. Yet, Washington politicians continue to insist that solving our massive debt problem requires the accumulation of more debt. Are politicians attempting to put off the “day of debt reckoning” until they are safely out of office or dead? Bottom line is politicians are trying to have government create consumer demand that is no longer there. (More on retail momentarily) Read more »
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