BUSINESS BRIEFS
Legos hold their own in recession
Advertiser news services
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NEW YORK — From building blocks to computer imaging systems, new takes on toys are being displayed at the American International Toy Fair this week as manufacturers hope to appeal to budget-conscious consumers.
Legos, for example, are selling despite the economic downturn because parents like giving their children toys they played with themselves, said Karen Lynch, staffing the toy fair's Lego display yesterday at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York.
"It's something that has been generationally handed down," she said.
JAPAN'S ECONOMY SHRINKING FAST
TOKYO — Japan's economy contracted at the fastest pace in 35 years as a collapse in global demand battered the world's second-largest economy.
Japan's gross domestic product, or the total value of the nation's goods and services, dropped at an annual pace of 12.7 percent in the October-December period, the government said today.
That's the steepest drop for Japan since the oil shock of 1974. It far outpaces declines of 3.8 percent in the U.S. and 1.2 percent in the euro zone.
The contraction underscores the vulnerability of Asia's export-driven economies during global downturns and point toward more cuts in jobs, production and profits in the coming months.
A survey of economists by the Kyodo news agency had projected an 11.6 percent fourth-quarter contraction.
CHRYSLER EXPECTS FLAT SALES AHEAD
Chrysler President Jim Press said there will be no quick auto-sales rebound and that total U.S. sales will hold at about 10 million a year — a level that others in the industry say quickly would drive a number of car companies out of business.
At a speech last week, Press said: "It would be a mistake to assume that this 10 million market is an aberration. Instead, we need to accept it and come to grips with it."
If January's new vehicle sales pace held all year, the total would be a mere 9.6 million, according to sales tracker Autodata.
