Disappointing retail sales last month added to concerns of a pullback in consumer spending in the US, while a pair of business surveys suggested growing caution.
American businesses and consumers started the year thinking interest rates would finally come down, making big plans to buy equipment or a house. Now all of that is on hold, slowing large swaths of the economy for the foreseeable future.
Capital spending by US manufacturers will probably cool in 2024 after a banner year of investment in plants as still-elevated borrowing costs and demand concerns temper a lingering desire to upgrade operations.
