But in the angels-on-the-head-of-a-pin world of baseball forecasts, it's a big deal.
Michael Evans, head of Evans Economics, a forecasting firm in Washington, said the string of revisions was troubling because it showed that construction, considered one of the economy's strong points, was not doing as well as had been thought.
"That explains why consumers are not spending very much," said Michael K. Evans, head of a Washington forecasting firm.
Michael K. Evans, head of a Washington economic forecasting firm, said the weakening economy was causing declining tax revenues.
"If you take energy and autos out, the index was up two-tenths of a percent," said Michael K. Evans, head of a Washington economic forecasting firm bearing his name.
"We now see a softening in some respect, deficit targets aren't met and we say we'll give you some more time," said Joachim Scheide, an economist and head of the forecasting center at the Kiel Institute.
LINDA DeFRANCO recalls a meeting five years ago where her boss, the head of trend forecasting at Cotton Inc., came back from a research trip with some interesting photographs.
"While the global automotive industry is clearly experiencing a slowdown in 2008, the global market in 2009 may experience an outright collapse," said Jeff Schuster, head of auto forecasting for J. D. Power.
"It goes without saying a good car at a low price will sell well in global markets," said John Bonnell, head of Asia forecasting at J.D. Power & Associates.
Deputy Head of the Forecasting department of the Sakhalin Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography, Nikolay Kim, said: "Judging by the appearance of the head, this is clearly some big dolphin.
