Sun, 30 Aug 2009

When is the Recession Over?

If you listen to the media, it's when Wall Street rebounds. OK, that's great for my 401K (really 0.41k) plan, but ask the guy or gal who's still out of work whether the recession is over and see what answer you get. I bet the answer will be quite different. I can't seem to go anywhere or talk to anyone without reminders of just how bad things really are. Many sectors of the economy will not come back for a long while. Employment in many sectors may never come back. Unemployment in my area is expected to reach 12-13%. The U.S. Burea of Labor Statistics reports for July, 2009:

In July, the number of unemployed persons was 14.5 million. The unemployment rate was 9.4 percent, little changed for the second consecutive month.

That's a load of people, but it's worse in some states. Take California:

California’s unemployment rate was 11.9 percent in July, and nonfarm payroll jobs declined by 35,800 during the month, according to data released today by the California Employment Development Department (EDD) from two separate surveys.

An Michigan is hovering around 15 percent unemployment. Many sectors of the economy are even worse than that. Wall Street needs to get better, but profits there have to be reflected in increased employment to really make a dent in the recession.

From a personal perspective, the possibility of being layed off at any time is nerve racking. One doesn't know whether to do anything or not. This reduces consumer confidence which reduces consumer spending and consumer spending is a mainstay of the economy and so the spiral continues downward.

posted 16:00 [/Economy] permanent link