UNEXPECTEDLY???? In huge swaths of the country, people cannot get out of their houses because of the weather. Budgets are getting frayed by heating costs.
It's not "unexpected". Of course there's less need for labor when people are spending mostly on necessities. Those analysts just say stuff that will keep the government printing presses going.
“Budgets are getting frayed by heating costs.”
Are they ever!
The weather has impacts beyond the affected regions.
I have had to delay shipping 2 orders, so far. One because is was too cold to work here and another because a supplier in PA couldn’t ship due to ice and snow.
This affected distributors in OH and IL and their customers all over the US and Canada.
My extra costs for propane cuts into my bottom line and results in me not having as much money to spend. Add to that, I am paying more for health insurance, food and electricity.
I suppose it is *unexpected* in that it wasn’t already figured into the economic models.