Valley feeling the pain

Already grappling with a regional economic squeeze, consumers shivered with concern again last week as news of a possible U.S. recession rippled through the San Fernando Valley. Sue Doyle and Brandon Lowery in the Daily News.

The turmoil that sent lawmakers scrambling to cobble together a nationwide emergency stimulus plan came as the Valley endures fallout from the subprime mortgage crisis and a writers strike that has hammered the entertainment industry.

Coupled with rising home foreclosures, recent layoffs at longtime Valley-area industry giants Countrywide and Amgen, and pricey tabs at the gas pumps, the shifting economic landscape is leaving consumers clutching their pocketbooks tighter.