REUTERS: NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. consumer confidence slumped to its worst in five years this month as a tough job market helped produce the grimmest future outlook in 17 years, while soaring inflation among producers at the year's start stoked fears of stagflation.
Bad news also poured in from the beleaguered housing market, other data showed on Tuesday. The collapse in U.S. home prices accelerated to a record pace in the fourth quarter of 2007, with prices plunging 8.9 percent last year, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index.
A government report showed U.S. producer prices jumped 1 percent in January on rising energy costs and posted the biggest 12-month gain in more than 26 years, which was the last time the U.S. was emerging from a stagflationary period of low growth and high inflation. Stagflation Fears >>>
Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)
