This terrible tragedy is certain to severely dampen consumer confidence and hence have the possibility of shutting down the consumer.
It's tempting to say these are terrible jobs, but the service sector has more wage pricing power than the manufacturing sector. If you're getting a pay increase from your boss today, it's probably not in manufacturing.
This confidence is encouraging and takes some of the pressure off the terrible number we saw with retail sales.
It confirms the belief that the weakness in retail sales was the result of a bunker mentality in the wake of the terrible events of Sept. 11.