The Associated Press notes that worries over the economy have led to an “increasingly volatile” market this week, with the Dow falling for eight days straight. The last time it sustained this kind of downward trend was February 1978, where it fell for nine consecutive days.
The sustained decrease of the Dow is just the latest in a string of signs that the U.S. economy is slowing, the AP said. The Institute of Supply Management said the economy grew at its weakest pace in the past 17 months in July, and consumers cut their spending in June for the first time in nearly two years. The once-booming manufacturing sector continues to slow, and the government announced that the first half of 2011 saw the slowest growth rate since the recession ended in June 2009.
Wednesday’s growth was small, moving up three points to 11,870 in late afternoon trading, the AP reported. It had previously been down as many as 166 points.
Growth was spearheaded by Coca-Cola, which gained almost two percent. The biggest losses were sustained by companies dependent on a growing economy, like Caterpiller Inc. or Chevron Corp.
