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Recession Briefing 8.31: Men’s Underwear Sales Dip
What you need to know today to survive and thrive in the recession.
The recession is taking its toll on New York’s cocaine dealers: “You’re gonna find me at the post office if this goes on for much longer,” says one. (New York/Daily Intel)
Sales of men’s underwear typically are stable because they rank as a necessity. But during times of severe financial strain, men will try to stretch the time between buying new pairs, causing underwear sales to dip. (Washington Post)
To help pare their budgets, more Americans are bypassing the salon and opting to lop off their own locks. The results can be shear disaster — clogged drains, fresh cowlicks and crooked trims. (Wall Street Journal)
The Federal Reserve has made a $14 billion in profit on loan programs that have provided hundreds of billions of dollars in liquidity to the financial system since the start of the crisis two years ago. (Financial Times)
New and prospective college students are abandoning their “dream schools” in favor of more affordable options, forcing many colleges to work harder to justify their price of admission. (USA Today)
Unemployment for middle-aged workers is the highest it’s been since data was first collected 60 years ago. And while the middle-aged are still more likely to have jobs than younger workers, once they are laid off, finding a new job is harder. (New York Times)
Regulators closed three banks Friday, pushing U.S. bank failures to 84 this year amid continuing fallout from the economic crisis. (Bloomberg)
The nation’s economic gloom hasn’t affected the way working Americans feel about their own jobs. In Gallup’s latest poll, 87% reported being completely (50%) or somewhat (37%) satisfied with their jobs. (Forbes)
The recession’s legacy may be Americans’ newfound reluctance to spend. (New York Times)
Federal Reserve and Treasury officials are scrambling to prevent the commercial-real-estate sector from delivering a roundhouse punch to the U.S. economy just as it struggles to get up off the mat. (Wall Street Journal)
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3 comments for “Recession Briefing 8.31: Men’s Underwear Sales Dip”
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Sales indicate men are starting the buying trend again. Guess with prices holding at the same level as last year and plenty of sale items, It seems like a great time to buy. But going back to school always included buying new underwear!
[...] haven’t been to that Target in almost two years and I decided to get some essentials. However, the essentials that I needed were not in stock at the time. I was a little bummed out and [...]
I think when Allan Greenspan makes the correlation between men’s underwear sales and identifying fluctuations in our economic environment… we should definitely watch Underwear sales a bit more closely!