A Real Recovery? 6 Unconventional Economic Indicators Say Yes | Moneyland | TIME.com
Worries still remain, including concerns about volatile energy prices and fear that Europe’s debt problems could lead to a global recession.
Time's search turned up a number of areas — including entertainment, recreation and food service — where things look to be looking up. They are six unorthodox indicators of economic recovery.
2. Underwear Sales
3. Rounds of Golf
4. Dining Out
5. Trailer Parks
6. Cable and Satellite TV Users
Time expands on all six indicators, for example, this is how Trailer Parks plays out:
The Indicator: The number of mobile and manufactured home units that were shipped in December was up 30% from the month before.
What It Means: A pick-up in the mobile home market could be a harbinger for the larger housing market. According to Nicholas Colas, a chief market strategist at ConvergEx Group, while the demographics between the buyer bases of single-family homes and mobiles are indeed different, he sees the recent uptick in manufactured homes informing the “likely path of eventual recovery for the industry as a whole.” Despite some hints of a broader turnaround, so far this is the only part of the housing sector where you can find such significant growth.
Read more: http://moneyland.time.com/2012/03/26/6-alternative-economic-indicators/?iid=hl-article-morephotos#unconventional-ways-to-look-at-the-economy-2#ixzz1sAJryiE7
A Real Recovery?
By most conventional metrics, it appears the U.S. economy is heading in a positive direction:
Jobless claims are down, consumer confidence is up, and the stock market appears relatively stable.Worries still remain, including concerns about volatile energy prices and fear that Europe’s debt problems could lead to a global recession.
Time's search turned up a number of areas — including entertainment, recreation and food service — where things look to be looking up. They are six unorthodox indicators of economic recovery.
Six Alternative Ways to Look at the Economy
1. Salon Visits2. Underwear Sales
3. Rounds of Golf
4. Dining Out
5. Trailer Parks
6. Cable and Satellite TV Users
Time expands on all six indicators, for example, this is how Trailer Parks plays out:
The Indicator: The number of mobile and manufactured home units that were shipped in December was up 30% from the month before.
What It Means: A pick-up in the mobile home market could be a harbinger for the larger housing market. According to Nicholas Colas, a chief market strategist at ConvergEx Group, while the demographics between the buyer bases of single-family homes and mobiles are indeed different, he sees the recent uptick in manufactured homes informing the “likely path of eventual recovery for the industry as a whole.” Despite some hints of a broader turnaround, so far this is the only part of the housing sector where you can find such significant growth.
Read more: http://moneyland.time.com/2012/03/26/6-alternative-economic-indicators/?iid=hl-article-morephotos#unconventional-ways-to-look-at-the-economy-2#ixzz1sAJryiE7
