The president of the Dominican Association of Free Zones, Jose Clase confirmed nearly 10,000 jobs have been lost in the free zone industries since orders began to decline due to the overnight slowdown in the US economy. 98% of Dominican free zone orders come from US companies. "If US sales are down, automatically our orders will be down," he explained. Indeed the popping of the stock market bubble made investors feel poorer, and consumers more cautious in their spending. Clase is optimistic economic measures being implemented will be successful. In the US, the Federal Reserve has been dropping interest rates to stimulate output and restore confidence.
