As a capitalist, the importance of holiday spending to the economy is not lost on me.
The threat of rising rates could pose a danger to retail sales and the U.S. economy during the holiday shopping season, according to some economists and retailers.
But the same bookstores that were so hard hit on September 11 now see opportunities for the holiday season because of the deteriorating economy, and Americans' preference to stay home.
The second way a payroll tax holiday is supposed to stimulate the economy is by making labor less expensive to hire, thus leading to additional hiring, more output, and increased incomes.
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One corner of the market that is doing well as the consumer economy slogs on to the holiday horizon and unemployment remains over 9.5%: For-profit colleges.
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Markets also will be eyeing news reports on the strength of post-Thanksgiving Black Friday holiday sales for signs of how the economy is holding up, Gero said.
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Housing market problems are severe enough to weigh on consumer spending as the U.S. heads into the holiday shopping season, says Moody's Economy.com.
Officials have been encouraging people to travel during the forthcoming May Day holiday week (China is eager to encourage holiday spending as a way of boosting the economy).
China, the number-two economy in the world, is on holiday all week for the celebration.
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Some have said this is the best retail holiday season in a long time, even before the economy went south in recent years.
Plouffe this morning, and also Dan Pfeiffer tweeting, were talking about the Boehner bill and how it would mean dealing with the debt ceiling over the Christmas holiday season, which is an important time for the economy.
This most recent quarterly performance drove the stock to levels not seen since earlier this year when Coach missed earnings expectations for the holiday period due to what management blamed as weakness in the economy.
Most seasonal positions are related to the uptick in holiday shopping, which creates a broad and deep impact on the economy.
Brad Rangel, marketing specialist for The Decor Group, says both the economy and seasonal weather have led landscaping businesses to pursue a sideline in holiday cheer.
And as rocky as the economy continues to be, the number of people who engage in power holiday shopping the day after Thanksgiving continues to rise.
Mark Zandi, head of Moody's Economy.com, favoured more help for the jobless and a payroll tax holiday.
Ctrip's founders' answer: Home Inns, a Chinese-style economy hotel harking back to the U.S.' Howard Johnsons and Holiday Inns of the 1950s.
Consumers in neighbouring Slovakia, for instance, are five times less likely to buy a package holiday than are Czechs, a difference not entirely explained away by Slovakia's poorer economy.
Even if the extra Bank Holiday also pulled down the numbers temporarily, we'd still be looking at a flat economy, which somehow produced more than 200, 000 jobs.
The dollar amount the NRF predicts will be spent on the holiday is about the same as last year, suggesting flat consumer activity due to the struggling economy.
"If the economy continues to decelerate to the point where it spooks households into spending much less this holiday season on retail goods, we could have a real problem, " said Craig Thomas, an observer with the economic data clearinghouse Economy.com.
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Though shortened by the holiday, there will be several announcements this week that will give us a better sense of where the economy is headed.
At many businesses, work not done during the matrimonial holiday will be made up in subsequent days and weeks, he explained, so the loss to the economy won't be very significant.
Despite a short week due to the holiday, Wall Street is going to have to digest several important pieces of information to gauge where the overall economy is headed.
If the Bush tax cuts and payroll holiday are not extended, and Congress lives up to its commitment to cut spending, the drag on the economy will be severe.
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