Consumer Confidence Plummets in U.S.

[Cadfael]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=&e=8&u=/ap/20040409/ap_on_bi_ge/consumer_confidence
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13 minutes ago



By JEANNINE AVERSA, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - Consumer confidence sank during the past month, weighed down by worries about job security and concerns about local economic conditions in the months ahead. The AP-Ipsos consumer confidence index dropped to 84.8 this week, from a reading of 97.7 in early March, when Americans' feelings about the economy had shown an improvement from the previous month.
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[WI_DEM]

1. the situation in Iraq

also saps consumer confidence.

[Cocoa]

2. I bet the economists will be "puzzled"

they'll be scratching their heads why this would happen during such good times.

[underpants]

3. Graph

[Deja Q]

4. Thank you Bush*!

You creep... you, your big imbecilic mouth, and your corporate buddies are going to collapse it all.

Have fun...

There's only one word that describes you lot... And it describes you to a "T"...

(But if they polled only 758 people... how worthy is this poll, much like any other?)

[Laughing Mirror]

5. What "job security" worries?

No job security is more like it. When you don't have or can't find any kind of job how can you possibly be worried about job security?

And another thing. I refuse to be called a consumer. I am a citizen and a producer. I have no job and no money to consume anything. But I am consumed with anger and revulsion at what we have allowed this broken down excuse for a country to have become.

[54anickel]

6. Oh yeah, this part points to a sustainable recovery - NOT!

Another gauge looking at consumers' attitudes about making a purchase, saving and other investment decisions, declined to 95.7 in early April, from 97.7 in March. That dip, too, may have been affected by higher energy bills, making some people feel they have to less to spend or save on other things, analysts said.

So far, however, consumers have kept their pocketbooks and wallets sufficiently open to help the economy. Consumer spending accounts for roughly two-thirds of all economic activity in the United States and thus is an important force shaping the recovery.

With tax refunds arriving in mailboxes and borrowing costs at extra-low levels, consumer spending in the first half of this year should be respectable, analysts said. They believe economic growth in the first six months of this year will average more than 4.5 percent, a healthy pace.

"Despite the softness in consumer attitudes in April, consumer spending should continue at a vibrant pace," predicted Richard Yamarone, economist at Argus Research Corp. :eyes:

[denverbill]

8. Who the hell wrote this?

"That dip, too, may have been affected by higher energy bills, making some people feel they have to less to spend or save on other things, analysts said."

Look dumbass author. If my gas, electric, and gasoline bills are all costing me an extra $100/month, I don't 'feel' like I have less to spend or save. I DON'T have an extra $100/month. It isn't a feeling. It's an actuality. Get a clue.

[54anickel]

9. Wouldn't you just love to organize a "Don't shop this month movement".

It's the only way to get them to understand just how important "consumers" are to this nation, 2/3 of the engine for crissake. Jobloss, lower wages, higher cost of energy will kill this "recovery", yet they seem quite patient about trying to go about tackling these issues. :grr:

[mhr]

7. The Missing 9.4 million Jobs - This Might Explain Some Of The Loss

http://www.comstockfunds.com/index.cfm?act=Newsletter.cfm&category=Mar ...

Comstock Funds
Charlie Minter
7 April 2004

Although the 308,000 increase in March payroll employment may seem like a lot compared to what we’ve been getting and what most have been expecting, it actually falls far short of what we should be seeing at this stage of a recovery. Here’s what we found in examining the last seven economic recoveries.

In the first six of these recoveries beginning with May 1954 employment rose by an average of 7.7 percent over the first 28 months with a high of 9.1 percent and a low of 5.5 percent. This includes one cycle that peaked in 24 months with a gain of 7.4 percent. Even in the recovery that started in March 1991, employment climbed 2.2% over the first 28 months. For all of the seven recoveries, employment rose by an average of 6.9 percent over 28 months. So let’s not hear any more about employment being a lagging indicator. It is not, and even if it were, 28 months is surely enough time to catch up.

In the current recovery employment has actually declined 0.2 percent in the first 28 months that includes the March number and the revisions that were released on Friday. If employment had increased by 6.9 percent, the average of the past recoveries, March payrolls would have come to about 139.9 million rather than the 130.5 million actually reported. This means that there are now 9.4 million fewer jobs than there should be at this point in the cycle, and that we needed an average increase of 322,000 jobs for each of the past 28 months to equal the average job growth of the last seven expansions.

Snip ......

[sandnsea]

10. 144.7 - May 2000

Remember to keep this in perspective.

http://money.cnn.com/2000/06/27/economy/confidence/

[LiberalFighter]

11. What happened to the 208,000 new jobs?

Gee you would think with that news the consumer confidence index would be up. Could those jobs be old jobs that are claimed as new jobs? Or previously unemployed getting new jobs that pay less? Or previously unemployed needing to get 2 or 3 new jobs instead of 1 new job? Hmmm that would mean that those 208,000 jobs are actually for 69,000 to 104,000 people.