The smoke has cleared from the Congressional debt management impasse, at least enough to indicate that the long, slowly rising road is still out there for the fastener industry. In the second quarter and into the third quarter, the economy appeared to call a timeout. Employment dropped off, consumers and businesses lost what little confidence they had acquired, retail sales dipped, durable goods orders suddenly declined, manufacturing growth slowed considerably, home prices and construction activity continued their downward spiral, and growth in our all-important gross domestic product almost came to a halt. It looked briefly as if that road to recovery was about to crest and head sharply downhill again.
展开▼
