Client News Release
US home construction sinks to new record low (AP) and Smoking ban, shaky economy wallop Dutch bars (AP)
City of Industry, CA --(www.FinancialNewsUSA.com)-- 11/20/2008 - Economy industry news provided by Financial News USA (OTC: FNWU). WASHINGTON (AP) -- Construction of new homes plunged last month to the lowest level on records going back nearly 50 years as U.S. builders slashed production while Wall Street nosedived.Embattled homebuilders, who enjoyed a five-year boom, are now building new homes and apartments at a record-low pace, according to government data released Wednesday. New building permits, a barometer of future activity, also plummeted to the lowest pace on record. With construction dropping, the number of unsold homes should fall quickly in the coming months, wrote Ian Shepherdson, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics. "But right now housing is a disaster area," he said.The Commerce Department reported that construction of new homes and apartments fell 4.5 percent in October, the fourth straight monthly decline. [Read the full article]
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) -- Hunkered down in a thick winter coat and scarf, Steven Jankipersadsing lit up a cigarette after finishing his bowl of pea soup outside a Dutch cafe."I won't come here in the winter, I don't want to sit outside then," he said between puffs Wednesday, sitting under a gas heater that took the edge off the autumn chill in front of the Brasserie Het Wapen. He is not the only Dutch smoker deciding to stay home. [Read the full article]
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Consumer prices plunged by the largest amount in the past 61 years in October as gasoline pump prices dropped by a record amount.The Labor Department said Wednesday that consumer prices fell by 1 percent last month, the biggest one-month decline on records that go back to February 1947. The drop was twice as large as the 0.5 percent decrease that analysts had been expecting and marked the third straight month that prices had either fallen or been unchanged.
The worry is that the recession, which many analysts believe will worsen in coming months, will further depress prices, hurting such industries as housing, autos and retailing, and contribute to a downward spiral that will feed on itself.A separate report Wednesday showed that the woes in housing, where the economic troubles began two years ago, have yet to ease. [Read the full article]
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Top Senate Democrats suggested Wednesday that a bill to rescue Detroit's Big Three automakers was stalled and challenged the Bush administration to take steps to save the industry if congressional efforts falter. [Read the full article]
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