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Why Americans Aren't Shopping | Intelligence | BoF. NEW YORK, United States — The US economy hasn’t looked as bright since before the dark days of the Great Recession. In April 2016, the unemployment rate held steady at 5 percent. The same month, 160,000 new jobs were created. (Less than projected and slower than in recent cycles, but still double than what is needed to keep up with population growth, according to economists.) Gas is also delightfully cheap. And while Federal interest rates rose in December 2015 — from a range of 0 percent to 0.25 percent to a range of 0.25 percent to 0.5 percent — in March 2016, the Federal Reserve announced that it would halt plans to raise rates further, due to overall weakness in the global economy, a move that would be expected to boost borrowing — and spending. But while personal income and disposable income increased by 0.4 percent in March, consumer spending inched up just 0.1 percent, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Fashion retailers have certainly been feeling the squeeze. Prediction: There will be no more billion dollar brands. | Lean Luxe. Investor piles pressure on French Connection to address concerns | News | Drapers. Brexit 'means economy faces 50/50 recession chance' Image copyright Reuters The UK has a 50/50 chance of falling into recession within the next 18 months following the Brexit vote, says a leading economic forecaster. The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) says the country will go through a "marked economic slowdown" this year and next. It says inflation will also pick up, rising to 3% by the end of next year. "This is the short-term economic consequence of the vote to leave the EU", said Simon Kirby of the NIESR. Overall the institute forecasts that the UK economy will probably grow by 1.7% this year but will expand by just 1% in 2017.

This would see the UK avoid a technical recession, typically defined as two consecutive quarters of economic contraction. Mr Kirby argued that the June referendum vote had led to such financial and political uncertainty that this would bear directly on the spending and investment decisions of both businesses and households.

Now, the culprit is the uncertainty following June's Brexit vote. Why The Hermès Birkin Bag is a Better Investment Than Gold.