In the business sector, fixed investment plummeted late last year and early this year as current and expected sales tumbled – the typical accelerator effect – and credit conditions tightened. Lately, however, real spending on equipment and software appears to be stabilizing. The improvement is particularly visible for business purchases of cars and trucks.
But the demand for high-tech equipment also appears to have firmed, while demand for other types of equipment seems to have flattened out. New orders have been choppy, but, in sharp contrast to their plunge over the preceding year, they seem to have improved on balance since the spring.