Value of top U.S. gov't IT contracts drops for '07
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The total estimated value of the U.S. government's top 20 IT contracts in fiscal year 2007, which began Oct. 1, is $118 billion, an analyst says.
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The 7th straight drop was caused by concerns that foreigners may cut holding of U.S. assets.
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U.S. Treasury prices slipped on  Wednesday as the market struggled to absorb $24 billion in new  supply just a few days before a jobs report which could set the  trend for yields for weeks to come.
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For some of the government's technology employees, those "special rates" don't seem so special anymore.
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Meeting next week to thrash out contracts The government is expected to concede some precious ground to the IT industry over difficult contractual negotiations that have just entered their third year.â¦
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US mutual fund assets fell 2 percent to $7.4 trillion last month, as declining equity markets reduced the value of stock funds, according to a survey conducted by the Investment Company Institute.
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New orders for long-lasting US manufactured products have their biggest fall for seven months.
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It's beginning to look like 2001 in the general economy, with consumers tightening their purse strings and businesses shedding jobs. But in the technology business, which suffered more than any other in the last meltdown, there are fewer signs of strain this time around.
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User satisfaction with U.S. government Web sites has declined slightly from the last quarter, according to a survey.
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Businesses are expected to be less willing to open their wallets for new technology in 2007.
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An IEEE-USA survey of IT professionals reported a 1.5% decrease in median income from 2002 to 2003, the first drop since the organization began surveying members in 1972.
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U.S. Treasury yields hit their lowest  level in almost seven months on Monday as record high oil  prices clouded the outlook for global economic growth.
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In some cases, fights in Congress have slowed progress, or the U.S. government has focused on other priorities. In other cases, the cost of IT projects has been an issue.
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U.S. Treasury prices got a modest lift on Thursday as a notoriously volatile measure of the U.S. labor market proved much weaker than expected.
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Forrester Research has revised projections for IT investment in 2008 down from previous research published in October, predicting the year ahead will be a slow one both in the U.S. and globally.In the report, &quot;U.S. And Global IT Spending And Purchases In 2008: Will The Grinch Of A Slowing US Economy Steal The Presents Of A Stronger 2008 IT Market?&quot; Forrester said it expects U.S. IT investment growth to slow slightly to 4.8 percent in 2008 from 5.3 percent in 2007. Previously, the research firm had predicted U.S. IT spending growth would be about 8 percent in 2008, led by software and network equipment.The areas hardest hit by the downturn will be computer and communications equipment and IT services, the latter being typically the first to get hit, said principal analyst Andrew Bartels. &quot;The first things CIOs cut are consultants and contractors,&quot; he said. &quot;They are readily delayable and cancellable items in the portfolio of spending.&quot;Despite this outlook, there is some good news for next year&#39;s U.S. IT market. According to Bartels, the slowdown in 2008 will happen mainly from the first quarter to the third quarter with growth in the fourth quarter of the year that will continue into 2009.In its year-end report, Forrester defines IT investment as spending in computer equipment, communications equipment and software. It adds spending in two other segments -- IT services and outsourcing and IT staff salary and benefits -- for its definition of IT spending.CIOs in the U.S. should plan conservative budgets because of the possibility that the economy will go into recession, Bartels said.However, there are technologies on the horizon that CIOs should prepare to implement in 2009, so they have the difficult task in 2008 of juggling conservatism and an eye to the future, Bartels said. Those emerging technologies include unified communications infrastructure and dynamic business applications. If they can, CIOs will increase spending and investments toward the end of 2008 and in 2009 to prepare for these technologies, he said.&quot;It&#39;s important CIOs ... don&#39;t get so cautious they&#39;re not ready for the next wave,&quot; Bartels said.Global IT purchases also are expected to slow slightly in 2008, from 12 percent in 2007 to 9 percent in 2008, but the U.S. market is expected to perform competitively despite the slowdown. The Asia-Pacific region, as it was in 2007, will remain an outstanding market in 2008, a year in which it may approach the U.S. in terms of size, Bartels said.&quot;Asia-Pacific is starting to become a factor in the market,&quot; he said. &quot;A year from now, we&#39;ll be able to say it&#39;s a stone&#39;s throw from the size of the U.S. market and may well pass it in 2009.&quot;In 2007, Asia-Pacific surpassed Europe in market size in terms of IT purchases, and that measure is expected to grow in Asia-Pacific by 15 percent in 2008, according to Forrester. IT purchases in the U.S., Canada, Latin America, and Europe will grow 5 percent to 7 percent next year, while in the Eastern Europe/Middle East/Africa region, purchases are expected to grow the same rate as in Asia-Pacific.The strength of Asia-Pacific is good news for U.S. technology vendors, as they&#39;ve &quot;been able to overcome a sluggish technology economy in U.S. with the Asian market,&quot; Bartels said.
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UK business investment fell at the start of 2007, the first such decline for more than a year, official figures show.
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Microsoft has been dropped from a $3.6m contract in China because the government broke strict procurement rules, designed to give national firms an edge in securing software deals.