Monday, May 19, 2003

Lifestyle Bay Area residents spend more on booze, books and just about everything else than people in other major metro areas. Households in this city and nine surrounding counties spent more than twice the national average on alcohol in one year $744 compared to $360. The New York City area placed a distant second, with an average of $450. Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, bls.gov Econony Gasoline prices across the nation dropped more than two cents per gallon in the past two weeks to continue a two-month decline. The survey of 8,000 service stations nationwide found that the average price per gallon on Friday was $1.55. The high this year was $1.76 on March 21. Source: Lundberg Survey Technology The number of people with high-speed Internet connections to their homes increased 50 percent in the 12 months ended March 31, but that rate of growth shows signs of slowing. Source: Pew Internet & American Life Project. Finance In November 2000, more than 50 percent of American households belonged to the "new" investor class. Since early 2001, the size of the investor class has been steadily shrinking -- from 7 percent in early 2001 to 40 percent this month. Source: Investor's Business Daily 8:03:46 AM    comment []