Chill Out: It's a Recession, Not the Apocalypse

... and it's still rising faster than before recession

(NEWSER) - News that the US gross domestic product jumped 3.5% in the third quarter cheered investors and others, but the cheers will ring hollow if unemployment keeps rising, John Authers writes. Consumer spending rose even as disposable income fell—“ not a pattern that can be sustained for long, and it is inconsistent with the need for US families to pay down their debts,” he notes in the Financial Times. More»

Recession isn't over as far as consumers are concerned

(NEWSER) - If the recession is indeed waning, nobody told consumers. Retailers of every kind reported lousy sales for the quarter ended Aug. 1, the Wall Street Journal reports. Target’s same-store sales fell 6.2%, Home Depot’s dropped 9.1% and Saks’ plummeted a whopping 15.5%. And with unemployment, stagnant wages, and tight credit squeezing shoppers, executives don’t expect to see improvement until next spring. More»

(NEWSER) - If economists are right, the worst is over for the US economy. In a survey released today by the National Association for Business Economics, 74% of economists said the recession would end in the third quarter. But the coming recovery won’t be a strong one, they warned. Job losses will continue for the rest of the year, which will restrain consumer spending. More»

Teens spend less on food, apparel while video games and DVDs still popular

(NEWSER) - The downturn is causing teens, who usually spend through recessions while parents absorb the pinch, to cut back, Advertising Age reports. Teenagers are spending about 14% less this spring than last, a “dramatic impact” from a demographic that spends an average of $125 billion each year. Unemployment is also cramping spending; the teen jobless rate hit 22% in March, the highest in a decade. More»

Psychology has everyone spending less, even those who don't need to

(NEWSER) - Amid the economic distress, many people who can spend as freely as they could before aren’t, the Washington Post reports. Such consumers, economists say, take psychological cues from friends and the media and pinching pennies needlessly—which only helps deepen the downturn. Upper-income consumers cut spending from $185 in May to $101 last month, tracking increased media emphasis on economic news. More»