Business Services Industry
Consumers send mystifying mixed message on economy.
Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News, December, 2004
By James Toedtman, Newsday, Melville, N.Y. Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
Dec. 1--WASHINGTON -- Christmas shoppers and nervous job seekers are driving the regional and national economy in a way that has sent conflicting signals and baffled economists.
Fueled by consumers and business spending, the national economy grew at a solid 3.9 percent pace in the third quarter, the federal government said yesterday. But consumer confidence slipped for the fourth straight month, with consumers telling the Conference Board that while they had confidence in the current economy, they worried about jobs and about the future.
That conflicting message was unexpected. "I'm perplexed by the confidence numbers," said Mark Zandi, of Economy.com, a...
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