. >> jeff: gooevening, everyone. call it a casef the summer aahs. the consumer blues or too much d ink on household balance sheets. the result: a surpsing drop in early gust consumer sentiment. ascott gurvey reports, americans are still too rried out jobs to hit the mall. >> rorter: it's been said many times, hap consumers spend and

. >> jeff: gooevening, everyone. call it a casef the summer aahs. the consumer blues or too much d ink on household balance sheets. the result: a surpsing drop in early gust consumer sentiment. ascott gurvey reports, americans are still too rried out jobs to hit the mall. >> rorter: it's been said many times, hap consumers spend and unhappy consumers keep tir money in theirockets. or even woe, in a bank. the markets greeted with dippointment the news that consumer stiment fell in the first part of augu. cary leahey of decision economs notes the decline in sentiment defied expections. >>t would make sense that since the number of people applying for umployment insunce benefits have dropped 100,000 workers in a coue of monthsthat would be reflected in consumer nfidence and sentiment and those nuers woulstart getting better. buyou did not and i think it's just rlective of the fact that even though firings ha gone down nobody thinks hings are going to go up. >> reporr: president obama tookome heat following today's report. criticsay he was overly cautio

captioning sponsored by macneil/lehrer producons >> brown: gooevening. i'm jerey brown. on the "newsur" this thursday: the lead story: the art of three days of mourng for massachusetts senator ward kennedy. then the other news of the d: continuing trouble for the nati's banks athe deposit insuran fund shrinks further; separating ct from fiction health care reform. ray arez takes a hard look at the contenous debate. a rare meeting of a gh level american and burma's recsive leaders. margaret rner talks to virginia senator jim wb.=u ande close with refctions on the kennedy family legacy: dy woodruff is ined by historians chael beschloss and richard norton smith major fundinfor the newshour th jim lehrer is provided by >> what t world needs now is energy. the energy to get the onomy humming aga. the energy to tace challenges likelimate change. what if that ergy came from a enrgy company? everyday, chron invests $62 llion in people, in ideas-- seeki, teaching, building. fueling growth around the wod move us all ahead. his is the power of human energy. chevron. iel. suppoing m