Word: slump
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Well, why are Americans so gloomy, fearful and even panicked about the current economic slump...
...Whining" hardly captures the extent of the gloom Americans feel as the current downturn enters its 18th month. The slump is the longest, if not the deepest, since the Great Depression. Traumatized by layoffs that have cost more than 1.2 million jobs during the slump, U.S. consumers have fallen into their deepest funk in years. "Never in my adult life have I heard more deep- seated feelings of concern," says Howard Allen, retired chairman of Southern California Edison. "Many, many business leaders share this lack of confidence and recognize that we are in real economic trouble." Says University of Michigan...
...slump has galvanized Democratic hopes of regaining the White House this year and has confronted Bush with a tough set of choices. Mindful that the economy has expanded an average of just 0.3% annually since he took office, the worst performance under any postwar President, Bush would dearly love to ignite growth through tax cuts or other incentives to bolster his chances in November. Yet at the same time he fears worsening a budget deficit that is expected to exceed $350 billion this year...
When the recession arrived, it triggered the kind of layoffs that occur in any slump. But it has also accelerated a wave of firings that can only be attributed to longer-term structural changes, including a drastic shakeout in industries that were overbuilt in the 1970s and '80s. Among the worst hit is retailing, which is undergoing a painful adjustment to the frugal '90s. Just last week Zale, the largest U.S. jewelry-store operator, said it would close 400 of its 2,000 stores and lay off 2,500 workers. "We are looking at the historic restructuring of the American...
Wall Street's euphoria reflected investors' hopes that rock-bottom interest rates would help end the economic slump. "The stock market is predicting a recovery," said Allen Sinai, chief economist for the Boston Company Economic Advisors. Investors, he noted, expect the fall in rates to reduce the interest burden of debt-laden companies and thereby boost corporate profits...