Inside Report (4)

It looks as if it's up to consumers to spend the US out of its recession.

Despite generous tax cuts, US firms plan to cut spending by 2.4 percent this year according to the Commerce Department. The last time businesses were surveyed on 1982 plans, three months ago, they planned to cut back by only 1 percent.

The survey seems to confirm what Reagan administration spokesmen have already conceded: The supply-siders plan for an almost immediate surge in business spending, inspired by tax cuts and a pro-business White House, has been thwarted by recession.

Manufacturing industries plan the biggest cutbacks, a 3.5 percent drop in spending for the year, the department said. Nonmanufacturing industries look for a 1.7 percent decline.