It's not too late to save Christmas

Buy these 10 gifts now and keep the American economy humming

Consumers account for some two-thirds of the growth in the U.S. gross domestic product by buying goods and services and have largely been credited with holding up the U.S. economy for most of the decade. With spending predicted to slow to a crawl, many analysts believe the economy is on the verge of a menacing contraction.

It doesn't have to be that way. With your last-minute holiday purchases, you still have time to get your loved ones the gifts they crave and save the U.S. economy from potential disaster.
To help you choose the right gifts with the proper amount of economic heft, MarketWatch has gathered 10 suggestions, culled from the brightest minds in everything from economics to bar tending.

There's nothing scientific or methodical about these items. They're just old-fashioned, homegrown ideas, which not surprisingly tend to focus first on U.S.-made goods and local services.

"It's back to the old days -- buy American; buy things that are produced here," said David Wyss, Standard & Poor's chief economist.

Apparel, for example, is mostly woven, sewn and stitched overseas, primarily in China. But golf balls are chiefly American-made. So is food, both in grocery stores and at restaurants.

Buy any one of these 10 now, then sit back and watch the economy roll:

A used house
No industry produces the ripple effects of housing, which by some estimates accounts for 15% of all domestic economic activity. Besides the real estate agents' commission there are mortgage fees and title charges and attorneys' costs -- not to mention money generated for everyone from the moving van driver to the carpet cleaner. At a median price of just about $206,000, houses are even on discount (about 6%) from a year ago. Worried about more price declines? Once folks start buying and supply equals demand, MarketWatch's chief economist Irwin Kellner said, housing prices will stabilize.

A newly constructed house
Better yet, convince 99 friends and family to get one too. According to the National Association of Home Builders, the estimated one-year impact of building 100 single-family homes in a typical U.S. metropolitan area is $16 million in local income and 284 jobs. They then drum up $3.2 million annually in local income and 63 jobs -- and there's no question the construction and building industries are hurting for jobs. An average new home will set you back about $218,000, about 13% less than a year ago.

A pickup truck
It's true you'll be using a good percentage of foreign substances to fuel it, but the domino-effect of building trucks and cars in the U.S. trails long and wide. Consider the Ford F-series trucks and in particular the F-150, the most ubiquitous on the road. Ranging in price from $15,000 to $30,000, about 90% of the truck's parts are manufactured in the U.S. and there are plenty of people employed to build engines, doors, fenders and rear-view mirrors. But more important, the entire machine is assembled in the U.S. The F-Series Super Duty, for example, has spawned an entire community around the 5,000 workers Ford employs at the assembly plant outside of Louisville, Ky., in the last 10 years alone, according to the company.

An airplane
Need a faster and more-high-flying means of transportation? Boeing's best-selling plane is the 737, which ranges in price from $57 million to $79 million. Ninety percent of its parts are U.S. made and the entire plane is assembled in the homeland, mostly in the Washington state cities of Renton and Everett. In fact, all Boeing planes are put together in the U.S., the company said, while the percentage of parts made here varies according to style and size. Don't forget, too, that planes need pilots to fly them, mechanics to service them and airport personnel to direct and harbor them, among other jobs tied to putting a plane in the sky.

A couch
And while you're at it, throw in matching chairs, tables, lighting and rugs. Hit hard and hardly noted during the housing slowdown has been the furniture industry, in which sluggish sales have led to bankruptcies ranging from Levitz Furniture -- its third in 10 years -- and Bombay Co. to Mattress Gallery and Sofa Express.

An entertainment package
Bring down the price points and buy a subscription series to the local opera, orchestra, play group or museum. Artists really don't like to starve and a gift certificate to a local arts group helps keep them employed, as well as their directors, lighting crew, makeup artists and costume designers. Don't forget ushers and ticket-booth sales people, too, who will benefit from your up-front purchase and continued support.

Food
Buy restaurant gift certificates to a favorite dining spot or a one that should be someone else's favorite. That keeps the chefs, waiters and waitresses, bartenders, bus boys and kitchen crews in living wages. Even fast-food and grocery-store gift cards generate income for your neighbors.

A local service
Any kind of service will do, be it a massage, a hair cut or even a trip to the dentist. Services are nearly always performed down the block or around the corner and help employ any number of people to book, manage and carry them out.

Movie tickets and DVDs
The vast majority of movies are created, produced, directed and acted out in Hollywood, employing hundreds of people per flick. California needs the help. The state, whose residents number some 36.5 million, is on the brink of a recession that most economy watchers believe would ripple quickly throughout the rest of the country.

A person's time
Hire someone, anyone: a nanny, a painter, a gardener, a tutor, a piano teacher or even a teen to shovel snow. For every job that's created there is a new consumer created too.

Jennifer Waters, MarketWatch