Laid-off workers were recalled and consumers who had deferred purchases out of fear they might lose their jobs were willing again to buy cars and homes.
When the company encountered manufacturing difficulties, it found itself drowning in inventory as customers deferred purchases of the original machine in expectation of the new one.
As a result, he said, the agency has deferred purchases of buses and a security system for bus terminals, as well as construction of a new park-and-ride lot.
Sales in the casual and boot wholesale business were less than expected as retailers appeared to have deferred purchases in a cautious approach to the fall season, Timothy O'Donovan, the chief executive, said in a statement.
Michael Murphy, editor of the California Technology Stock Letter, said, for example, that PC makers had a slower-than-expected first quarter, largely because corporations deferred purchases until the release of Windows 2000 on Feb. 17. "In the O.E.M. or corporate market, nobody bought until Windows 2000 was out because nobody likes to upgrade an operating system," Mr. Murphy said.
(The analysts warned, however, that "confidence, or lack thereof, in product transition execution can affect attitudes, and that purchase hesitation, as customers defer purchase plans until after the switch, is not accounted for).
"If they can then defer purchase of a vehicle or sell off a vehicle, there can be tremendous savings that can help stabilize a family," according to the executive director of T.R.U.S.T.
Consumers defer purchases if they think they may be able to buy the same item for less in the future.
Grim expectations about the future are becoming self-fulfilling prophesies, as nervous companies cancel investments and households defer purchases.
