Recently, I read an old article that talked about how undergarments help track the position of the recession. According to the article, because undergarments are hardly seen by others in comparison to clothes and pants, “they’re the first thing men stop buying when the economy tightens.” After the 12% decline in sales of undergarments, the economy requires an annual 2 – 3% sales growth in order to see the beginning of a recovery. However, there is no prediction for recovery until 2013. This may be true as a report on the stocks of Warnaco Group indicates that there has been a drop in stock levels lately. The article also notes that women’s undergarment sales have been going up. Does that mean that the recession is recovering? Unfortunately, the answer is no. According to the article, “denim and footwear sales remain sluggish, which suggests only stabilization, not recovery.”
I found this article particularly interesting because it makes me wonder if this study can be noticed worldwide within different cultures or only in certain economies. This article showed me that even sales for the most common items can assist in an indication of a recession or recovery in economies.
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