Printing Not Among the Industries Worst Affected by the Recession

Obviously, manufacturing isn’t the only area feeling the brunt of the recession. National income data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA)—the same folks who give us the GDP results—show that several sectors other than manufacturing were already experiencing strains even before the steep fourth quarter decline. Among the larger sectors recording sharp third-quarter to third-quarter declines in 2008 were construction (-7.0%), transportation and warehousing (-6.7%), finance, insurance, and real estate (-5.5%), and retail trade (-3.7%). Fourth quarter data aren’t available until the end of February, nonetheless, it’s clear that conditions for these and most other sectors worsened during the final three months of the year.