"Report: Slump may deepen; Economist: 'Consumers have thrown in the towel,' sees long recession" by Bloomberg News | November 1, 2008
WASHINGTON - US consumer spending tumbled in September, and a purchasing managers' survey showed the biggest deterioration since 1968, foreshadowing a deepening economic slump. The 0.3 percent decline in purchases matched the biggest slide in four years and followed no change in August and July, the Commerce Department said yesterday in Washington.
Nariman Behravesh, chief economist at IHS Global Insight in Lexington, Mass.: "Consumers... have no choice but to cut back on spending in a very big way. This is going to be a fairly deep, long recession."
Job losses, increases in food and fuel costs, and falling property values brought an end to the longest expansion in spending on record and made the economy the most important issue in next week's presidential election. The economy contracted at a 0.3 percent annual pace in the third quarter, ushering in what may be the worst recession in a quarter-century. The collapse in lending and sentiment in October indicate Americans will keep retrenching. Rising unemployment is stifling gains in wages and benefits. --more--"
