by Christina Lee on July 8th, 2009
This back-to-school season, most U.S. consumers plan to spend as much or more on sporting and outdoor products as they did last year, Retailing Today reports.
For such products – including footwear, apparel and equipment – about 53 percent of parents with kids age 18 plan to spend the same amount, as 28 percent anticipate spending more.
The study, conducted by SportsOneSource, found that parents with a household income under $40,000 were most likely to spend “a lot less” this year. But it also found this group to be most likely to spend “a lot more” than any other household... Read more »
by Christina Lee on April 14th, 2009
Wholesale prices had declined for the first time this year, surprising economists who largely did not expect them to change at all.
For some, this decrease could be interpreted as a preventive measure against inflation, as Bloomberg reported this morning. Wholesale prices last declined in December 2008, by 1.8 percent.
Measured by the producer price index, wholesale prices serve as one of three gauges of inflation calculated monthly by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Rapidly declining energy prices led the overall decrease, as the costs of both gasoline and home heating oil each declined by 13 percent.
On the other... Read more »
by Christina Lee on March 18th, 2009
Wholesale prices rose by 0.1 percent over the course of February – now the second noted increase in a row since a 1.9 percent decline in December.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the rise yesterday through its regular tracking of wholesale prices of crude, intermediate and finished goods, cumulatively referred to as the producer price index.
Finance and economics journalist James Picerno called the price increase paired with the 22 percent rise in new housing starts “more than just a dead cat bounce.”
“Is it safe to declare the deflation risk over? No, not yet, but it’s not too... Read more »