Research Center

Europeans might go in for public-sector austerity–or at least be forced into it by the Germans–but it’s consumers in America who seem to be trending toward austerity these days, according to a poll released this week by Harris Interactive.

The National Associations of Realtors said on Monday that it’s going to revise downward the number of existing homes sales it reported from 2007 to the last 10 months of 2011.

U.S. consumers seem to be enjoying some holiday cheer, at least according to the latest Reuter’s/University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index, which was released on Friday.

The Federal Reserve reported on Wednesday that U.S. consumer credit increased at an annualize rate of 3.75 percent in October.

Word is that the latest idea to fend off Europe’s woes is the sooner creation of the European Stability Mechanism, which would be a permanent successor to the European Financial Stability Facility.

Looking to shore up the wobbly euro, French President Sarkozy and German Chancellor Merkel told the rest of the euro-zone governments that it was time to accept more centralized control of fiscal policy, or else.

Friday’s official jobs numbers by the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicated that employment continued to trend up in several areas. All levels of government employment continued to trend down, as has been the case since mid-2008.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Friday that the economy added 120,000 jobs in November, more than October’s 80,000, but still not enough to indicate a healthy jobs situation.