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February retail sales took an unexpected hit indicating that the recession may finally be official.
The mixture of weak housing prices, declines in payrolls and a spike in energy costs - on top of a .6 percent drop in retail sales in February - may prove just the distateful cocktail that makes the recession a reality.
The retail sectors that took the hardest hit, as reported in Bloomberg, were auto dealers and restaurants. Jobless benefits climbed to a 2 1/2-year high and import prices rocketed 13.6 percent over last year. In the trickle down from a weak housing market, purchases of furniture, electronics and building supplies dropped.
In a sign that the gas crunch is truly being felt, Americans are cutting back on fuel purchases, now at $3.27/gallon for unleaded.
While consumer spending may grow at a 0.5 percent pace in the first quarter, that rate would be the slowest pace since the 1991 recession.
And the dubious “stimulus” package on the way may have little effect: Most Americans say they will save, rather than spend, the cash.
All sectors of the media business will suffer from the weakened economy in 2008 and 2009, with a slump in local advertising particularly hurting newspapers and local TV, according to a new projection from Goldman Sachs.
Broadcast nets will experience…
The New York Times is shuttering its International Herald Tribune site; NYTimes.com will soon host the international news normally reserved for its sister website.
The move is not about cost savings, but rather about growth, NYTimes.com general manager Vivian Schiller…
Unilever’s Vaseline set forth on an unusual research project in a small town in Alaska. Setting up a storefront, the company began giving away free bottles of lotion and asking recipients to name the person who had recommended they come…
Meet the Press, the show hosted by Tim Russert for 17 years before his death last June, is beginning to slip in ratings.
Last month, CBS’s Face the Nation pulled ahead of Meet the Press for the first time in two…
Bloggers collectively create nearly one million blog posts each day, and half of bloggers believe blogs will be a primary source of news and entertainment in the next five years, according to Technorati’s 2008 State of the Blogosphere Report, MarketingCharts writes.…
Wal-Mart and Costco reported same-store gains in September, with sales rising 2.4% and 9% respectively. Sales at Target stores open at least a year fell 3%, writes Retailer Daily.
Below, fiscal results from the discount retail giants:
Sales of food and…
