A brief study shows some promise for our economy. Sorry, couldn't resist the pun.

Here's the deal, according to the NPD group more men are buying underwear. That may not seem like a big deal but an article in the Washington Post says, "Sales of men's underwear typically are stable because they rank as a necessity. But during times of severe financial strain, men will try to stretch the time between buying new pairs, causing underwear sales to dip."

"It's a prolonged purchase," said Marshal Cohen, senior analyst with the consumer research firm NPD Group. "It's like trying to drive your car an extra 10,000 miles."

Last year men's underwear sales slowed, but researchers say sales are picking back up.

According to Mintel, "men buy an average of 3.4 pairs of underwear in a year. But from 2004 to 2008, the proportion of men buying single pairs at a time increased from 5 percent to 8 percent, while the share of men opting for packs of four or more fell slightly, from 68 to 66 percent -- indicating that shoppers may be trying to save money by buying only when necessary."

You may not want to read too much into this. During the Depression sales of lipstick soared 25 percent, they also rose 11-percent in 2001--two other troubling economic times. That triggered what many began calling the "lipstick effect".

However, an article in the Economist says, "Reliable historical figures on lipstick sales are hard to find, and most lipstick believers can only point to isolated, anecdotal examples as evidence of the larger phenomenon. Data collected by Kline & Company, a market-research group, show that lipstick sales sometimes increase during times of economic distress, but have also been known to grow during periods of prosperity. In other words, there is no clear correlation."

I'm guessing we're all holding out for some hopeful sign the economy is beginning to bounce back.

What do you think? Should we pay attention to the men's underwear index or the lipstick effect?

Add your thoughts below.

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