This is due to the company's persistently weak operating performance and increasing debt levels, which have resulted in deterioration in liquidity and debt protection measures.

But soaring oil prices and a persistently weak job market have made the recovery more fragile and sluggish than it seemed just a few months ago.

Wal-Mart will face the same problem that has bedeviled most of its German rivals: persistently weak demand from consumers.

Its raw materials prices have skyrocketed, while a persistently weak euro caused a $50 million currency-translation hit to third-quarter sales.

"The underlying reason that Liz Claiborne continues to take market share in a persistently weak economy like this is that it sells very well at retail," Ms. Bronston said.

It cited a persistently weak business environment at home and slowing economic growth abroad.

And although Japanese consumers are buying more goods, the persistently weak domestic recovery has restrained import growth to a degree, the economists said.

There is a pause in the conversation while they grope for a phrase, often producing a euphemism that masks the growing national alarm, including their own, over the persistently weak American economy.

The major issue there was the persistently weak local economy, which Lazio hoped to link to his opponent's husband's tenure in office.

Combined with some other recent data, this first broad look at economic performance last month suggested that the seven-year business expansion is intact despite a persistently weak manufacturing sector.