The following information is a synopsis of an AP - Los Angeles posting in December 2007:
The nation's housing doldrums will drag on at least through 2009, dampening U.S. economic growth and job creation, but the slowdown should not push the economy into a recession. Despite plunging housing values, rising oil prices and credit problems that continue to plague Wall Street, the nation's job market is unlikely to suffer the kind of steep losses that would tip the economy into recession.
The odds that the housing woes alone will hobble the economy enough to cause two consecutive quarters of negative economic growth in the nation's gross domestic product -- the standard used to define a recession, is unlikely. In addition, the U.S. unemployment rate would have increase significantly to drive the economy into a recession, requiring substantial losses in a sector other than construction, which is unlikely.
The economy will remain sluggish for another couple of quarters before starting to rebound in the second half of 2008. Even so, the housing drag on the national economy will abateby mid-2008.
Meanwhile, the decline in the value of the dollar should help fuel U.S. exports for the next several years, and the decline in consumer spending will mostly affect other countries as U.S. consumers purchase fewer foreign-made products.
Plan your investments accordingly.
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