Durable goods a stand-out drop

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Steve Chiotakis: Durable goods’ orders — big factory stuff — plunged in October by the largest amount in two years. And consumer spending fell by the largest number since 9/11. Whew. Let’s let Marketplace’s Steve Henn finish up with those numbers.

Steve Henn: So just how bad were these numbers? Well these days, perspective’s hard to come by, but pretty bad.

Chris Low: When you look at economic growth, we’re likely looking at the biggest decline in about 30 years.

Chris Low is chief economist at FTN Financial:

Low: The big one, the one that really stands out is durable goods orders, which fell 6.2 percent in October.

This means businesses are spending a lot less on big ticket items. And that number’s been falling for three straight months.

At the same time, consumers are cutting back, too. Consumer spending experienced its biggest monthly drop in seven years. And the culprit?

Low: Credit. Credit’s just not available the way it was just a few months ago.

So Low says everyone’s holding tight to the cash they have, just in case they need it down the line.

In Washington, I’m Steve Henn for Marketplace.