Is your recession over?
Posted at 5:00 AM on February 22, 2011
by Eric Ringham
(15 Comments)
Filed under: Economy
Economic numbers have been providing mixed and sometimes contradictory messages. In employment, housing and other areas, the news has been good and bad at the same time. Today's Question: Is your recession over?
Comments (15)
Things couldn't be better.
I do banking.
I'm a Wallstreet banker. Things couldn't be better!!
Recession, what recession? Life is good!
No. I am in the Not-For-Profit work force, and the recession is deepening with a vengeance across this sector. My income has dropped by 50% in the last 16 months, and stands to drop further in the foreseeable future. Nor is there a field in the for-profit sector that can make use of my decades of experience. I have weathered recessions since 1976, and none has threatened my existence. This one has, and appears as if it will continue to deepen in its damage. My finger points back to the idea of an "ownership society" trotted out by W. Bush, and embraced by the 'haves" of our nation.
No. My recession began 4 years ago, and there is no end in sight.
I can only hope that some day a full-time teaching job will appear, but with the misguided tax-cut mania in our land today it's likely that things will only get worse.
People like Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker are the cause of so many problems and such heartbreak, and so much unnecessary animosity. Watching him and those like him is like watching Satan. There is no reason behind his zeal to destroy people's lives.
I think it's time for Wisconsin unions to go on strike. As long as people like Scott Walker are in charge there will be no new jobs. People like him will stop at nothing, yet they must be stopped.
With guys like that there will never be a recovery of jobs. With guys like that and unattractive future is inevitable. Better to go there sooner and get it over with.
Strike now so that jobs and a decent living can be saved.
@Brrr
Oh boo-hoo! Don't come into my bar and cry in your beer! Join the club.
For me the recession started I was laid off last fall and have NO good job prospects in sight. I have no health insurance and prices of everything can only go thu the roof, like gas which is expected to be $5/gal this summer.
The so-called experts claim by taking one statistic and gleefully declaring, "recession's over!" is utter nonsense. Meanwhile the ACTUAL unemployment rate is comparable to that of the Great Depression.
I can say with one in 10 still not able to find a job, and the longer they stay without a job the harder it is.
With programs to help get out of the job loss and move to a new job being cut, the 'current' governement leaders need to understand this is a LARGE number of people.
If they put the government into shut down and not realize the "JOBS, JOBS, Jobs!" mandate is not a mandate to cut taxes to those who already have....
When they all get no Unemployment payments, already in hardship as it is with the way unemployment works, they will take to the streets.
You think Wisconsin is bad....
When all you have is nothing, you have nothing to loose to regain your rights.
Honestly, its the rich cats who do not get it. And they are not adding to the economy by hording the money like they are. When 90% of everything is owned by 1% of the world... and the rules are only accelerating this....
Something will change.
I am happy with things that happened for General Motors who was very Top heavy. They are making a proffit, paid their loans back to the US, and now following their contractual agreements with employees with their bonus's.
They have been taking the heat way to long. GM is finally a company I can look to as 'improved'... only I don't work for them.
The first company that flinches and starts expanding into markets right now, spending in otherwords, will win. The sooner they realize this the better.
And with the government situation, if unemployment ends its checks to those doing everything to get a job then we will see.
It is clear the Libertarians blame the unemployed for being lazy shiftless hobos. That its their own fault for being poor....That how dare those with the means extend a hand and help...
That every time the unemployment is brought up they are the first to try and stop it....
All I can say is the libertarian policies are shooting themselves in the foot to get to a solution that lasts. And those 10% of everyone do have friends and family also affected, and they all will voice their concerns and needs.
I pray leaders lead as well as listen to the facts. Leaders can not be blind.
No. For state workers, the recession is just beginning.
No.
NO, I work for the University of Minnesota and the cuts keep coming and coming. We keep hearing one more year just buck up and we will get through it.. going on 4 years now. It looks more and more like my "bucking up" will lead to a layoff this summer.
I didn't have a recession at all for two reasobns:
1: I didn't waste my income during the 00's boom years on excessive spending for things like homes that I couldn't afford.
2: I was lucky enough to not lose my job in my employer's labor contactions once the general recession broke.
I wish all my friends and loved ones were so lucky - many of them weren't.
Yes. Ever since I realized that my income and net worth are not the most important measures of my well-being, I've been doing just fine.
It think its starting to break. I see the the private sector starting to lease and improve commercial real estate.
Big problem is inflation. The price of commercial building materials has gone up 5-10% in Feb/March and factories are telling us more is to come. Contractors right now are hard up for work and taking work cheap. Low margins with rising prices means more companies going out of business if they can't pass on the rising prices of raw materials.
Inflation is happening. Food prices are going up. Fuel is going up which affects the price of EVERYTHING! Steel, copper and aluminum prices are going up.
Inflation is what happens when the government spends like a drunken sailor and borrows it all from China or prints the money.
Yes. Have been doing business as usual for the past 5 years. Felt it important to keep buying in my hometown so as to keep businesses and jobs open.
I would say yes...
I came out of college just as the economy was tanking back at the end of 2008, but was lucky enough to land a job with an environmental firm. Have had that job for the entire recession. Got married, have an apartment, with little interest in a house at the moment. I would probably say that the recession impacted me and my wife very little, as I don't have any money tied up in the markets. Just loans to pay back from school.
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