reeves84
December 24th, 2002, 3:49:20 PM
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/2604263.stm
US consumers and businesses have kept a close watch on their cash in the run up to Christmas, with three separate reports showing flat or falling sales.
Orders for durable goods - costly items intended to last three years or more - fell unexpectedly in November the commerce department said.
"My take would be that people, manufacturers in particular, are going to sit on their hands till the Iraq situation is cleared up and some of that uncertainty is over," said Stephen Stanley of RBS Greenwich Capital Markets in Connecticut.
The figures dashed hopes of a early recovery after positive consumer spending figures in November.
So the recession is still with us folks.
US consumers and businesses have kept a close watch on their cash in the run up to Christmas, with three separate reports showing flat or falling sales.
Orders for durable goods - costly items intended to last three years or more - fell unexpectedly in November the commerce department said.
"My take would be that people, manufacturers in particular, are going to sit on their hands till the Iraq situation is cleared up and some of that uncertainty is over," said Stephen Stanley of RBS Greenwich Capital Markets in Connecticut.
The figures dashed hopes of a early recovery after positive consumer spending figures in November.
So the recession is still with us folks.