History gives reason to hope
Sam Stovall with Standard & Poor's Equity Research says in a BusinessWeek piece that it's true all recessions have come with drops in construction, but "not all construction declines resulted in recessions."
Twice the U.S. experienced year-over-year declines in residential construction—1967 and 1995—but did not slip into recession.Standard & Poor's Equity Research predicts more pain for the housing sector but no recession.
S&P Economics believes we will avert economic disaster primarily because of the aggressiveness of the Federal Reserve, with its expected continuing rate-cutting and liquidity infusion efforts. We also believe the weakness in the U.S. dollar will aid U.S. exporters, and the restatement of August's employment data, as well as strength in September's results, will help consumers feel less anxious about their jobs and lessen the effect on consumer confidence.
Sign up for the At Home newsletter 
