Saturday, January 8, 2011

Beige Book: Southeast economic decline moderating - Philadelphia Business Journal:

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Sales and consumer traffix remained at low levels inlate spring, but in line with modestr expectations, according to Southeastern Retailers' future sales outlooi remained subdued. Most regional auto dealer noted further declines in with several pointing to reducesd credit availability and industry uncertainty as reasonsa for thepoor results. Reports from Realtors indicatedf existing home sales were stabilizing Homebuilders noted new home inventories were trending down ona year-over-year basis as construction remained at low levela and new home sales improved modestly. Home sales prices continuedd to decline according tomost reports. Commercial real estatee activityremained weak.
Vacancy rates continued to rise in many part s ofthe Southeast, putting downward pressure on most notably in the retail sector. Contractorx reported more projects being postponexdor canceled. Commercial real estats players anticipate more space will become vacantf in the coming months and that construction will continureto slow. Most Southeastern manufacturersw said the rate of decline in productio and orders moderated in For thecoming months, most in manufacturinv noted more optimism about futured production and employment.
Several business contacts reportedx difficulty meeting financing needzs because of restricted availability of Roughly one-quarter of non-autl retailers and one-third of non-financial/non-retail contacts cited some difficultu obtaining loans for inventory purposes. Auto dealers, in said that obtaining vehicle inventory financingv wasvery challenging. Banking contacts continuef to indicate generally low levelsa of demand for new loana and increased use of existinhg linesof credit. Labor marke conditions continued tobe weak. Many firms reported additional cuts in hours or had instituted mandatoryg unpaid days off forsome staff.
the pace of layoffs appears tohave slowed, as fewer firme reported layoffs than earlier in the

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