The primary driver of this slowing is consumer spending. Spending will be hurt by continued elevated energy prices and a slowing in housing.
I think that the U.S. consumer is hot to trot, ... I think you're looking at a first quarter that's going to easily top 10 percent (in retail sales increase) on an annualized basis.
I think that the U.S. consumer is hot to trot. I think you're looking at a first quarter that's going to easily top 10 percent (in retail sales increase) on an annualized basis.
That will just reinforce the slowdown in consumer spending.
The SARS virus may not have much of a direct impact on U.S. growth -- though we would look for some spillover to the consumer confidence data.
One has to wonder how long the consumer can continue to spend at ... dizzying rates without a material improvement in the labor market.
It's a very strange mix, ... It may signal some kind of slowing, but I think I'd have to see a lot more evidence of that. It doesn't appear that consumer consumption is slowing in any meaningful way.