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How Bad Is It?

Mike Austin

By Peter Coy and Ben Levisohn

How Bad Is It?

"The worst since...," "the steepest decline since...." The severity of the current crisis can be measured by the superlatives being generated. Each drop in the Dow, each rise in jobless claims, each major layoff announcement seems to be breaking—or matching—a record. The scariest juxtapositions? Those harking back to the Great Depression. Here are some of the latest comparisons with the past.

Same-store sales at Goodwill Industries International were up 10.7% in October, the biggest year-over-year gain since 2003.
International travel fell 2.9% year over year in September, the worst drop since the SARS scare in August 2003.
Chief Executive magazine’s CEO Confidence Index stood at 58.2, the lowest since the survey began in 2002.
Corporate jet takeoffs and landings in October were down 19% from last year, the largest drop since the FAA started collecting such data in 2001.
The S&P 500 index dropped to 752 on Nov. 20, the worst close since it hit 744 in 1997.
The unemployment rate rose to 6.5% in October, its highest since March 1994.
Citibank announced layoffs of 53,000 on Nov. 17, the most pink slips since IBM’s announcement of 60,000 jobs cuts in 1993.
New jobless claims hit a seasonally adjusted 542,000 for the week of Nov. 15, the highest weekly level since 1992.
Retail sales were off 2.8% in October from September, the worst drop since current counting methods began in 1992.
The Home Builder Confidence Index plummeted to 9 for the month of October (a rating of 50 means half those surveyed say the outlook is good), the lowest since the index was created in 1985.
Auto sales declined 32% year over year in October, the worst drop since 1983.
Core consumer prices (excluding food and energy) were down 0.1% in October from September, the first dip since 1982.
The Consumer Confidence Index hit 38 in October, the lowest since its creation in 1967.
Monthly housing starts fell 4.5% in October, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 791,000, the lowest since record-keeping began in 1947.
GM stock dropped to $1.72 on Nov. 19, its lowest since 1938.
The Dow tumbled 47% on Nov. 20 from an October 2007 peak, the worst drop since it fell 49% from 1937 to 1938.

Data: Goodwill International; IATA; Chief Executive; UBS; Bloomberg; U.S. Labor Dept.; Challenger, Gray & Christmas; U.S. Commerce Dept.; National Association of Home Builders; Autodata; The Conference Board; Center for Research in Security Prices