ta Research Institute predicted an increase in economic growth of three-percent in 1994, with a continuation of moderate interest rates, increased employment, strong investment, and stable profits and wages (Farrell, 1994, pp. 60-61). A few weeks after this rather modest forecast was released, the onslaught of a wicked winter in the Eastern-half of the country and the Los Angeles earthquake smashed economic expectations--at least for the first-quarter of 1994 (Cooper and Madigan, 1994, p. 23). Retail sales are down one-half of one-percent (department store sales are down 1.8 percent), housing starts are down 17.6 percent, and the nation's trade deficit increased. Still, economists continue to predict that economic growth will be regained in 1994 as winter subsides.
At the industry level, the future direction of economic growth tends to vary from industry to industry. Industry snapshots are as follows:
1. Strong sales growth is predicted for the agriculture industry for the remainder of the decade of the 1990s, and continued improvement in productivity is also projected (Greising, 1994, p. 88). Industry employment will likely stabilize.
2. Strong sales growth is predicted for the automobile manufacturing industry for the remainder of the decade of the 1990s, and continued improvement in productivity is also projected (Kerwin, 1994, p. 71). Industry employment will likely continue to inch downward.
3. Strong sales growth is predicted for the chemical manufacturing industry for the remainder of the decade of the 1990s, and continued improvement in productivity is also projected (Weber, 1994b, p. 76). Industry employment will likely continue to inch downward.
4. Dramatic sales growth is predicted for the computer hardware manufacturing industry for the remainder of the decade of the 1990s, and continued improvement in productivity is also projected (Arnst, 1994, p. 81). Industry employment will likely grow mod...