Business news with words american+consumer+recession. 14 news.

WASHINGTON - The housing market is tanking, the credit markets are in crisis and economists fear a recession could be on the way - but in November at least, that wasn't enough to slow down the American consumer.

The housing market is tanking, the credit markets are in crisis, and economists fear a recession could be on the way - but in November at least, that wasn't enough to slow down the American consumer. Personal spending rose 1.1 percent last month, the biggest...

The housing market is tanking, the credit markets are in crisis, and economists fear a recession could be on the way -- but in November at least, that wasn't enough to slow down the American consumer.

The housing market is tanking, the credit markets are in crisis, and economists fear that a recession could be on the way -- but in November at least, that wasn't enough to slow down the American consumer.

The housing market is tanking, the credit markets are in crisis, and economists fear a recession could be on the way ? but in November, at least, that wasn't enough to slow down the American consumer.

The US Federal Reserve remains likely to cut American interest rates next week, despite better-than-expected job growth figures which yesterday eased concerns that the housing slump will push the economy into a full-blown recession.

US interest rates will plunge from 4.5pc to 2pc as the American economy suffers its first consumer recession since 1991, Merrill Lynch has forecast.

Recession or not, American families will be forced to tighten their belts

F. SCOTT Fitzgerald had it wrong: In a slowing economy, the rich aren't that different from everyone else. Affluent consumers, pinched by shrinking stock portfolios, falling property values and smaller bonuses, are behaving like their less-well-off peers: They're reining in spending, according to Bloomberg News. That portends a steeper slowdown than originally forecast for the United States economy, or even a recession, because the richest fifth of American households accounts for almost 40 percent of consumer spending, the main engine of economic growth. "Upper-income consumers are the bellwether," said Joseph Brusuelas, chief US economist at IDEAglobal Inc, a Singapore-based research firm that advises central banks. "When they begin to capitulate, that's when we all head down." Lower-income shoppers cut spending earlier this year as gasoline prices soared above US$3 a gallon and higher payments on adjustable-rate mortgages forced some home owners into

The long-awaited, long-feared consumer crunch may finally be here. That might not mean an economywide recession, but the pain for American households will be deep.

COMMODITIES had the biggest monthly gain in September in 32 years, led by wheat, crude oil and gold, as the US dollar's slump enhanced the appeal of energy, grains and precious metals as a hedge against inflation. The 19-commodity Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index was up 8.1 percent last month, the most since July 1975. Wheat climbed to a record in September amid a global grain shortfall, boosting corn and soybeans. Oil also hit a record, and gold reached a 27-year high. The Federal Reserve cut borrowing costs to bolster the American economy, sending the US dollar tumbling. "The Fed has signaled pretty clearly that (it) will answer the problem of a slowing economy with greater liquidity," said Chip Hanlon, who manages US$1 billion at Delta Global Advisors Inc in Huntington Beach, California. "We're in a bullish phase for commodities." The CRB Index rose to 333.67 from 308.76 on August 31. Wheat reached a record US$9.5125 a bushel on Friday. Crude oil climbed to US$83.90 a barrel, the highest ever, on September 20 and approached the record on Friday. Gold rose as high as US$752.80 an ounce on Friday, the highest since January 1980. The US dollar fell to a record against a weighted basket of six major currencies, including the euro, yen and pound. The Fed on September 18 cut its benchmark rate by 0.5 percentage point, more than economists forecast, to 4.75 percent in an attempt to shore up an economy threatened by a housing recession, according to Bloomberg News. The rate cut sparked inflation concerns. Some investors buy commodities to hedge against rising consumer prices, and the falling dollar makes raw materials priced in the United States currency cheaper for buyers holding other currencies. The cut in US borrowing costs will continue to weaken the dollar and lead to "skyrocketing" prices for commodities, Jim Rogers, chairman of Beeland Interests Inc, said in an interview last week. He co-founded the Quantum Hedge Fund with George Soros in the 1970s. Wheat rose on Friday after the US Department of Agriculture said US production and supplies were smaller than analysts expected. Global inventories are poised to decline to the lowest level in 26 years. Wheat futures for December delivery rose six US cents, or 0.6 percent, to US$9.39 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade. The price was up 22 percent this month and has more than doubled in the past 12 months.

Thanks to China, an American recession need not cause the whole world to crash ECONOMISTS have long warned that the world economy could not fly for ever on the single engine of American demand. A one-engined plane is more likely to crash. With its housing market blighted and its consumers growing fearful, America now faces a mounting risk of recession. The good news, however, is that the world has found some powerful new engines in China and other emerging economies. Even as credit markets seize up, a world economy that is less dependent on the United States is more likely to stay aloft. The power of this new motor is startling. For several years, emerging Asian economies have accounted for more of global GDP growth than America has. This year China alone will for the first time accomplish the same feat all on its own (at market exchange rates), even if American growth holds up. American consumer spending is roughly four times the size of China's and India's combined, but what matters for global growth is the extra dollars of spending generated each year. In the first half of 2007 the increase in consumer spending (in actual dollar terms) in China and India together contributed more to global GDP growth than the increase in America did.

The bullish mood in Frankfurt belies an uncertain future for the car giants A CASUAL visitor to this week's sprawling motor show in Frankfurt would conclude that the global car industry is robustly self-confident as it churns out new models to fill every niche of consumer demand and forges ahead with the green technologies that will reconcile the car with the future health of the planet. The reality is different. There is little or no growth in the carmakers' oldest markets. Demand in western Europe is flat; North American sales, hit by fall-out from the collapse of subprime lending, are on the brink of recession; and Japanese sales are shrinking as the population declines. Everybody agrees that an industry needing growth must look to emerging markets such as China, India, Russia and Brazil. Carlos Ghosn, the boss of the Renault-Nissan alliance (see article), points out that sales in those countries doubled between 1999 and 2006. Now that these emerging markets have started to matter, the established carmakers are racing to find local partners and produce vehicles that will appeal to new buyers in Asia and South America. Volkswagen (VW), a latecomer to the party, this week announced the Up!, a EURO6,000 ($8,300) small car for emerging markets with a rear-mounted engine that harks back to the original VW Beetle.

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- The weak unemployment report has raised fears of a recession, sending economists rushing to the bedside of the American consumer for fear spending will slow down.