Real median household income in the United States climbed between 2005 and 2006, reaching $48,200, according to a report released by the U.S. Census Bureau. This is the second consecutive year that income has risen.
According to the second annual Customer Experience Impact Report, a Harris Interactive study sponsored by RightNow(R) Technologies, 80 percent of consumers will never go back to an organization after a bad customer experience, up from 68 percent in 2006.
The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index, which had surged in July, gave back all of the gain in August. The Index now stands at 105.0 (1985=100), down from 111.9 in July. The Present Situation Index decreased to 130.3 from 138.3 in July. The Expectations Index declined to 88.2 from 94.4.
Staffing Industry Analysts, the nation's premier research and analysis firm covering the contingent workforce, today lowered its annual forecast for staffing spending to 4.4% growth, down from last year's projection of 6.8% growth, due to the decelerating economy.
Data through June released by Standard & Poor's for its S&P/Case-Shiller(R) Home Price Indices, the leading measure of U.S. home prices, shows continued negative annual returns in the U.S. National Home Price Index, the 10-City Composite and the 20-City Composite, as well as 15 of the 20 metro area indices.
IBISWorld, Inc., released a Special Report detailing which U.S. industries are most vulnerable to an ongoing erosion in consumer confidence in the foreseeable future.
Sales of apparel are the largest and fastest-growing US online retail category. Convenience and finding bargains remain consumers' key motivations for buying apparel online. At the same time, several surveys show many consumers prefer buying clothing in a store.
Existing-home sales were essentially unchanged in July, with increases in the West and Northeast offset by a decline in the Midwest, according to the National Association of Realtors.
In July, employers took 1,221 mass layoff actions, seasonally adjusted, as measured by new filings for unemployment insurance benefits during the month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported.
While they may not be whistling while they work, a new survey of U.S. workers finds that most Americans are very happy in their jobs, with those who are living in the West, married, and Hispanic showing the highest incidence of workplace contentment.
