The housing downturn and growing energy prices have hit companies hard, and unemployment has reached its highest level in five years. At 455,000, the number of people collecting unemployment benefits is at its highest since December, 2003. As companies such as General Motors, Inc. and Starbucks Company continue layoffs, consumer spending is dropping, and economists fear serious backlash for the economy.
See "Jobless claims hit highest point since March 2002", Jeannine Aversa, San Francisco Chronicle, August 7, 2008