Retailers Want You to Shop
Have you thought of buying a new outfit, adding a little spark to your home, or treating yourself in some way? If so, store managers are hoping you don’t chicken out on that purchase. The stock market plunge this year is keeping them awake at night. They are afraid it will spook you and keep you out of stores just when they need you the most. After a demoralizing holiday shopping season, with even giants like Macy’s, Nordstrom and...
Fears Rise That Plunging Stocks Could Pose Risk to Economy if volatility continues
Major U.S. stock indexes plummeted Friday after a worldwide sell-off overnight triggered by another slide in oil prices, raising concerns about possible spillover effects on the nation’s still-recovering economy. The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 391 points, or about 2.4 percent, to 15,988.08, a level it had not been at since August. The Dow was down more than 500 points before recovering somewhat. The Standard &...
Economists: Beware New U.S. Recession
Confronted with disappointing data from around the world, economists are whispering a word that hasn’t seemed like a real possibility in years: recession. It starts with the slowdown in China, which is already straining the global recovery. The world’s second-largest economy has lost its appetite for the raw materials that fueled its industrial boom, leaving the smaller countries that supplied it with resources stumbling in its wake....
Working-Age Men Aren’t Coming Back
Millions of workers who dropped out of the job market during the last economic slump were supposed to jump back in once things turned around. But more than six years after the recession ended, the missing millions are increasingly looking like they’re gone for good. The nation’s labor participation rate — defined as the share of the working-age population that is either working or looking for work — hasn’t budged from a 38-year-low of...
Baby Boomers, Better Economy Drive Up RV Sales
Milwaukee — If you’re seeing a lot of travel trailers and motor homes on the highway these days, it’s more than a sign of summer. For the first time in a decade, the recreational-vehicle industry is poised to break production records. RV manufacturers are expected to ship 380,000 units this year, up 6.5 percent from 2014 and nearing the previous peak, set in 2006 before the recession. The spending strength of baby boomers craving the...
