Worst sell off since 2008

The two-week plunge in stock prices is signaling economic anxiety, but it's also compounding the problem: Lower stock prices are shrinking Americans' wealth, rattling their confidence and making them less inclined to spend.

And employers may become even slower to hire.

The Dow Jones industrial average plummeted 513 points, or 4 percent, on Thursday on fears about the US economy and the debt crisis in Europe. The major stock indexes have sunk more than 10 percent from their previous highs.



Economists say sustained drops in stock prices tend to suppress consumer spending as people see their wealth shrink. And consumer spending accounts for about 70 percent of economic activity.

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