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Gold/Mining/Energy : SOUTHERNERA (t.SUF) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Gord Bolton who wrote (3350)	5/13/1999 11:01:00 PM
From: Gord Bolton	Respond to of 7235

Quarterly Sales Figures: US Diamond (and other) Sales Continue to Rise - May 1999 The Diamond Information Center, De Beers' agency in the U.S., reported a 9% growth in the diamond jewelry market in 1998 in the U.S. Total sales were over $22 billion they said, with an increase of 5% in average price paid per piece. These figures were felt throughout the wholesale diamond industry as diamond sales and wholesale diamond prices remained firm. This trend continued in 1999, not surprisingly, the U.S. Commerce Department added to these findings that total retail sales in March rose two-tenths of 1%. Though not a large jump in itself, this percentage change is part of the ongoing pattern: January sales rose by 1.3% and February's were up by as much as 1.7% in the continuing upward trend as total sales reached $239.6 billion with the January/February non-adjusted figures for jewelry stores coming in at $1,202 million and $1,713 million, respectively. Everyday consumers have been the backbone of the upward movement. Made confident by the bullish market on Wall Street and the 4.2% unemployment level in March – the lowest since 1970 – consumer spending and a rising consumer confidence in the continuing availability of jobs is the bottom-line reason for the high numbers. diamondregistry.com