The local report found declining activity in services and manufacturing, flat retail sales, a fall in auto sales, a continued slump in home sales and construction and mixed reports in commercial real estate. Lending, too, is down.

While a few sectors in manufacturing and services had perked up - among them plastics-making, furniture and auto parts manufacturing, warehousing and transportation - the bad news was quite widespread. About 80 percent of car dealers reported fewer sales than a year ago, for instance, and firms in many sectors of the economy announced plans to consolidate plants or lay off employees.

Retail sales were bright spot, sort of. Half of retailers saw sales increase; 39 percent fell. Essentials and staples were strong while luxury goods were weak. About 54 percent of retailers said they expect sales to grow in the fall.

Read the full report here. But be forewarned, it’s something of a downer.

And listen to commentary from Fed economist Howard Wall, here.

The trade group made its projections based on the anticipated prices of oil per barrel. Fuel is expected to rise to 36 percent of operating costs for airlines, up from 13 percent in 2002, according to the group.

Meanwhile, passenger demand dropped 1.9 percent in July from the same month a year ago, while capacity grew 3.8 percent during the period. This indicates airlines’ efforts to reduce  flights are not keeping pace with drops in demand, the report said.

It’s no longer the “Yes for Schools First Coalition.” It is, rather, “the YES on A Coalition.”

Why the change? Well, the Secretary of State recently said the measure will appear on the November ballot as Proposition A. And so it makes sense, said spokesman Scott Charton, to change the name of the group and tell people what to vote for.

“That was always the plan,” Charton said.

The Coalition, whatever you call it, is funded by two of the region’s biggest casino companies - Ameristar Casinos and Pinnacle Entertainment, which together have spent $2.4 million on the effort through June, according to filings with the Missouri Ethics Commission.

It is pushing a ballot measure that would end Missouri’s one-of-a-kind $500 casino loss limit, cap the number of casino licenses in the state at 13, and increase the state tax on casino revenue by one percent, generating an estimated $105 million to $130 million in new funding for Missouri schools (hence the “Yes for Schools First” part of the name).

The measure would still funnel that money directly to schools, Charton points out. The new name will just shift the focus to what’ll show up on the ballot.

“That’s the message we’re trying to send,” he said. “We hope people will vote yes on A.”

The O’Fallon, Mo.-based company, which makes silicon wafers for electronic applications and solar batteries, said it expects revenue of $560 million to $620 million.  MEMC first released that prediction in July, when it said it fell short of its second-quarter estimates because of the failure of a relatively new heat exchanger at its Merano, Italy, facility and a fire at its Pasadena, Texas, plant.

In a statement released today, Chief Executive Nabeel Gareeb said “the polysilicon production rates at our Pasadena facility have been at levels that, combined with the strength of demand from solar applications customers, could allow us to achieve results in the upper half of our targeted financial range.”

Still, Gareeb tempered that statement by saying there is weaker demand from semiconductor applications customers and the potential for “unanticipated events to occur.” Because of those factors, the company did not change its third-quarter prediction. The revenue target of $560 million to $620 million is 18 percent to 31 percent more than the revenue reported in the third quarter of 2007.

MEMC is expected to announce its third-quarter earnings at the end of October.

The company — which makes cutting and welding products for use in manufacturing, construction and other operations — is offering 1.5 million shares, according to a regulatory filing today. Shareholder Angelo, Gordon & Co., a New York-based investment adviser that had about a 33 percent stake in the company, is offering all of its nearly 4.5 million shares. Thermadyne said it will not profit from any sales of this shareholder’s stock.

The company’s stock price closed today at $22.50, up 11 cents.

A report on Business Week’s website this morning cites Northrop Grumman “insiders” saying the company may propose a modified Airbus A330-200 freighter for its version of the tanker, instead of the converted A330 passenger jet it proposed last year, and that the Air Force chose in February.

That choice was withdrawn after a successful Boeing protest of the selection process, and the Air Force has re-defined its guidelines in ways that analysts say favor a larger plane. So Boeing is reconsidering its offer of a converted 767 cargo plane, but says it needs six months to complete a re-designed proposal, so it can’t meet the Air Force’s proposed October deadline. Boeing has threatened to quit the contest if it doesn’t get more time.

Boeing might be careful what they wish for, though.

Northrop and its partner, Airbus parent European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co., didn’t propose the A330-200 freighter last year because the plane wasn’t ready yet. It is now, and EADS has said, if it wins the tanker contract, it would build those freighters at the same Alabama assembly plant where it would build the tankers. If Northrop and EADS actually propose using the freighter airframe for the tanker, they would be able to do that more efficiently, and likely offer both planes at a lower price.

All this further raises the stakes on Boeing’s upcoming decision, which we wrote about earlier this week, whether to bow out of this high-profile contract fight or keep going. The first signs will likely come next week, when the Pentagon is expected to release its updated requirements for the plane, and a timeline for Boeing and Northrop to submit their proposals.

Sherrie Arb said the Detroit-based automaker began making offers on Monday. She said about 175 salaried employees work at the Wentzville location, where the GMC Savana and Chevy Express full-size vans are made, but she declined to say how many of those would be eligible for the offer.

Overall, GM has about 32,000 salaried workers nationwide. Arb also declined to say how many employees throughout the U.S. would be offered early-retirement packages. But Bloomberg reported today that the GM will make the offer to about 9,000 workers, or 28 percent of the salaried workforce.

GM spokesman Tom Wilkinson would not confirm that reported number and did not have details on the packages being offered.

Each employee has 45 days to consider the package once it is offered to them.

This most recent early-retirement offer is part of GM’s broader plan to reduce costs during a weak U.S. auto industry.

The AAA and the Oil Price Information Service was reporting this morning that the average price of a gallon of regular-grade gasoline in St. Louis was $3.50, up from $3.296 on Wednesday. Prices in Metro East generally are higher than the St. Louis number due to higher taxes.

Gasoline prices had been dropping this month. However, earlier this week the Associated Press reported that gasoline prices were expected to rise as Gustav threatened the Gulf Coast.

In Saturday’s Post-Dispatch, energy beat reporter Jeffrey Tomich will try to explain the yo-yoing prices and what we might expect in the coming days.

The local union bought ads in today’s Denver Post and Rocky Mountain News with the intent to reach policymakers who are in Denver for the convention, said Joe Shields, president of UAW Local 110. The ads protest Chrysler consolidating minivan production to its plant in Windsor, Ontario.

According to Shields, one part of the ad said: “We need our political allies’ help now!”

Chrysler spokeswoman Mary Beth Halprin declined to comment on the ads today because she said she had not seen them.

Shields said the local union has not yet determined if it will buy ads around the time the Republican National Convention is held next week in Minneapolis-St. Paul.

Workers have protested Chrysler’s decision to indefinitely idle the minivan plant and reduce the number of shifts at the neighboring pickup plant from two to one. UAW Local 110’s ads today are part of a series of ads and events to bring attention to the Fenton plants. Shields said the local union also placed an ad in the Detroit Free Press on Aug. 14, when more than 450 people from the St. Louis area — workers, retirees and family members — rallied outside of Chrysler’s headquarters in Auburn Hills, Mich.

UAW Local 1760, whose members are workers that make seats and dashboards for Chrysler’s minivans, voiced its support of the local plants via ads in a Washington, D.C., newspaper for and about the U.S. Congress.

The ad said that Chrysler’s minivan sales in the United States have been far greater than sales in Canada. The ad ran in The Hill on Aug. 13, a day before the rally in Auburn Hills, and it ran again on Aug. 19, said Darin Gilley, president of UAW Local 1760.

John Bozzella, Chrysler’s vice president of external affairs and public policy, will be at both conventions to gather support for a loan program signed into law last year that helps automakers and suppliers develop vehicles and parts with higher fuel economy.

On the Chrysler media blog, which is only for journalists, Bozzella said he hopes the “technology partnership between the auto industry and government” will be funded before next year.

Congress authorized $25 billion as part of a 2007 energy bill, but the program’s funding has not been appropriated. The final rules on how automakers and suppliers could apply for the loans have not been written, either. Several media reports say Chrysler, General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and their supporters will ask for double that amount, but none of the Detroit Three automakers confirmed the reported request.

In a question-and-answer interview on the Chrysler blog, Bozzella said developing advanced technology vehicles and parts in the United States will be valuable to the economy.

“A home grown solution for batteries and other advanced technologies will impact far more than automotive manufacturers,” he said in today’s post. “It could also provide a much needed financial shot in the arm to the millions of others who are involved in the development and marketing of the technologies.”

Critics have labeled these government loans as bailouts for the U.S. auto industry, which has been battered by rising fuel prices and a sharp turn in consumer demand towards cars and away from pickups and sport-utility vehicles. Bozzella said in the blog post that the program is not a bailout.

“What we’re talking about is this is a partnership for technology transformation,” he said. “By partnership, what the government is doing is providing loan support. This is not a blank check. This is not a Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae exercise.”

According to current rules outlined in the 2007 energy bill, the loans could cover only up to 30 percent of the cost to retool a plant to make the vehicles and parts that have greater fuel efficiency. The automakers and suppliers would have to cover the remaining 70 percent of costs through other financing, which likely would have interest rates higher than those of the government loans.

For more on what this loan program could mean for Chrysler’s Fenton operations, read this story from today’s Post-Dispatch: http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/business/stories.nsf/manufacturingtechnology/story/F8D6A301E18BEF27862574B300099CC2?OpenDocument