WQOW TV: Eau Claire, WI NEWS18 News, Weather, and SportsSurvey: Midwest holiday sales slump expected
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Associated Press - November 2, 2009 9:14 AM ET
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - A survey of business leaders and managers in nine Midwest and Plains states suggests holiday shoppers could be in a bah-humbug kind of mood this year.
Supply managers surveyed in the Business Conditions Index for the Mid-America region expect holiday sales to decline by 1.6 percent from last year.
Creighton University economist Ernie Goss oversees the monthly survey. He says a normal holiday season would see a 6 percent growth in sales.
The results are in line with other economists' predictions of a ho-hum holiday shopping season during a sluggish economic recovery.
The Mid-America survey covers Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma and South Dakota.
On the Net:
Creighton Economic Forecasting Group: http://www.outlook-economic.com
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