“businesses cutting jobs due to higher energy costs”
By ELLEN SIMON | AP Business Writer, August 22, 2008
NEW YORK - A private sector measure of the economy's health showed the largest drop in a year, and while new jobless claims fell for the second straight week, they remain near the highest levels since 2002. The reports are the latest evidence the languishing American economy remains stuck in low gear.
The New York-based Conference Board said Thursday its monthly forecast of future economic activity fell 0.7 percent in July, far more than the consensus estimate of a 0.2 percent decline by Wall Street economists surveyed by Thomson/IFR.
The last time the index showed a drop this great was last August, when it fell by 1 percent.
The largest drag on the index was the decline in building permits, followed by dropping stock prices, rising unemployment claims, a tightened money supply and falling manufacturers' orders for consumer goods. The index has slipped 0.9 percent for the six months ending in July.
Companies likely will increase layoffs in the next several months as profits continue to suffer from higher food and higher gasoline prices, Vitner said. The unemployment rate could reach 6.5 percent by mid-2009, from 5.7 percent in July, he added.
August 21, 2008, Fort Lauderdale, Sun-Sentinel
In May, 40 percent of shoppers said they would buy the cheapest version of a product on a shopping list, up from 33 percent in February, according to a TNS Retail Forward survey.
Mandy Putnam, analyst at TNS Retail Forward, said in a report that stores focused more on lower prices are gaining shoppers.
Coral Springs resident Mary Mitchell said even though she shops at other stores, including Winn-Dixie and Whole Foods, she is considering shopping more at Wal-Mart because the prices are "family oriented."
A Florida Farm Bureau Federation annual food price survey of four supermarkets released this month found prices up an average of 7.1 percent compared with last year.
contact Obama! 