This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, March 19, 2009 - The St. Louis economy continued to weaken across the board in January and February -- and a majority of retailers and car dealers have a "pessimistic" outlook for the near future, according to a report released Wednesday by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
Retail and car sales were down. So was overall activity in manufacturing, real estate and construction, according to the March edition of the "Burgundy Book," the Fed's quarterly summary of economic data for the St. Louis region, which covers 71 counties in eastern Missouri and 45 counties in Southern Illinois.
The Fed reports that "general retailers and car dealers tended to be pessimistic about the near future, as more than 80 percent of each expect their sales over the next two months to be lower than their 2008 levels." The Fed also reported pessimism in the commercial construction market for 2009.
The report noted a decline in demand for commercial and industrial lending, attributed to economic uncertainty but an increase in residential mortgage lending due to a spike in refinancing activity.
Here are some telling facts from the report:
* About 83 percent of general retailers and half of car dealers surveyed reported that their sales were down from the same period in 2008.
* One-third of car dealers surveyed reported increases in sales of high-end vehicles, but about 30 percent reported more rejections of finance applications.
* Home sales were down by 14 percent from 2008, although the report notes that the residential housing market shows signs of stabilizing because this decline was similar to the decline in previous months.
* The number of building permits for single-family housing was 53 percent lower than in 2008.
* Employment growth in the St. Louis metropolitan statistical area was negative, for the most part. The exceptions: The health and education sector showed a growth rate of 3.1 percent; the information sector, 1.3 percent and the government sector, 1.1 percent.
* Employment sectors showing the steepest declines: Natural resources, mining and construction, -8.7 percent; manufacturing, -6.1 percent.
