Katrina Coverage

Holy moley, the WaPo says in "Economy wobbles in wake of Katrina":

Consumer spending fell in August at the steepest rate since the Sept. 11 attacks as Hurricane Katrina slashed Americans' incomes, fanned inflation and caused $170 billion in losses from property damage, the government reported yesterday in its first tally of the storm's economic effects.

The report came one day after the Labor Department said 279,000 Americans had filed new claims for unemployment-insurance benefits because of Katrina, which slammed into the Gulf Coast on Aug. 29, wrecking homes and businesses, driving up energy prices and forcing a mass evacuation.

With savings low, interest rates rising and consumer confidence plunging, analysts are widely forecasting U.S. economic growth to slow through the end of the year, as households and businesses trim nonenergy spending.

Action verbs highlighted because I felt like it.

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