Wall Street Journal reports, "American consumers are continuing to hunker down, casting a cloud over the durability of the U.S. recovery and underscoring the importance of overseas demand in restoring the world economy to health. Retailers across the spectrum provided foreboding reports. Discounter Target Corp. reported that sales at stores open at least a year were down 6.2% from a year earlier in the quarter ended Aug. 1, while luxury purveyor Saks Inc. reported a 15.5% drop in same-store sales over the past quarter as shoppers stuck to buying basics. Building-supply chain Home Depot Inc. saw total sales drop 9.1% in the quarter ending Aug. 2, and it reaffirmed expectations of a 9% sales drop this year."
It's all about the jobs, stupid! It's not that consumers are reluctant to spend. The reason is that without jobs or prospects for jobs, consumers simply have no income; and without income, consumption is not a viable option.
I will have a post, hopefully, tomorrow about the job situation going forward in the United States. It is not for the faint of heart. But, then again, truth is preferable to fiction IMHO. And that is exactly what you have been getting from the main street media outlets is nothing but fiction.
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