The outiook for many segments of consumer products is reminiscent of the Beatles' song "It's Getting Better All the Time." So far in 2010, consumer spending has exceeded most analysts' predictions at the end of last year. Yet there is still some distance to go before we can use the word recovery. A number of hurdles lie ahead before the consumer sector returns to the robust state of spending growth that would qualify as a self-sustaining rebound. Right now, most of the trends are moving in the right direction. The forecast for 2010 is for inflation-adjusted growth of 2% to 3% in spending on all consumer products. In 2011, growth will accelerate to 4-5%.
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