Recession on the loom

[OhMari]

I can't get a feel to be honest....we didn't take the dive like most of the country did.


The biggest hurt in my part of the world IMO is gas prices-it puts an excessive tax on the consumer. If gas were $1 a gallon less, that would put $15-20 a week into people's pockets, which more than likely would mean an extra meal out. More demand is what is needed to create jobs. Creating demand is done by giving people money to spend. Taxes don't need lowered, we just need an answer as to why gas was $4 a gallon when oil was $147 in 2008, but oil is $85 now and gas is still $4 a gallon.

The oil industry has us where they want us-get them comfortable paying $4.00 a gallon.

Ours is a tad lower right now, but it went up twice this week from $$3.65 to $3.69 and today it raised to $3.74 why? There used to be threads on the DIS talking about gas prices-have we all gotten compliant? Now it is just another price we pay for something we need to have.

 

[QVCshopper]

However, for me personally, after visiting a third world country earlier this year I came home and looked around me in total awe in amazement at the level of luxury our society in general currently maintains.

Despite our very real problems we are as a country still so incredibly fortunate in so many ways.

Yes, that's what I say all the time. Overall, our country is blessed. And for those having tough times, I think it's good for others to contribute to charities and services to help them. As a kid, my neighbor brought us food; things like that help so much.

Did you know that the United Way considers a $1k gift to be a"high contributor"? I think that's a shame, but it is what it is. Really, $1k isn't an incredible amount of money anymore. Heck, my 5 year old has over $150 in the bank from money we find on the ground (and the bank's summer reading program).

Do what I tell my mom. Turn off the TV. Stop watching the news. She's an invalid with a mental illness and she gets so worried over stuff. It can affect her health.

To all of those suffering, I am sorry. I hope things get better soon. My dad was out of work for four years in the 90s, when things were supposed to be good. But, they didn't charge up a ton of debt or have an ARM. I think those things really bring people down. Fast.

 

[QVCshopper]

The great new is you can default on more CCs and blame it on the economy.

Haha. The OP is the one who contributed a lot to that whole thread about settling with credit card companies to survive this economy. It got ugly on there.

Anyway, that just proves I'm on here too much...

 

[angwill]

Yes, that's what I say all the time. Overall, our country is blessed. And for those having tough times, I think it's good for others to contribute to charities and services to help them. As a kid, my neighbor brought us food; things like that help so much.

Did you know that the United Way considers a $1k gift to be a"high contributor"? I think that's a shame, but it is what it is. Really, $1k isn't an incredible amount of money anymore. Heck, my 5 year old has over $150 in the bank from money we find on the ground (and the bank's summer reading program).

Do what I tell my mom. Turn off the TV. Stop watching the news. She's an invalid with a mental illness and she gets so worried over stuff. It can affect her health.

To all of those suffering, I am sorry. I hope things get better soon. My dad was out of work for four years in the 90s, when things were supposed to be good. But, they didn't charge up a ton of debt or have an ARM. I think those things really bring people down. Fast.

Good point about us being so fortunate when compared to a third world nation. Sometimes people forget and sometimes people may look like they are fortunate when in reality they no longer have anything and are barely hanging on after job loss just to feed their family.

I would check out how the United Way allocates their money before contributing to that particular organization. There are many more great charities that spend a lot less on administration. They have some employees that are very wealthy off those contributions from people who donate. Maybe that is why people donate so little to that particular organization?

 

[nunzia]

I am always surprised when threatened with a second recession. As far as my area is concerned the first one has not ended yet.

DH has not worked more than two months for the last two years. While it is bad enough not to have the income, I think just not being able to work is worse. Can be very discouraging and depressing to be out of work for so long. No real hope for the immediate future either.

I agree..I don't think the other recession has even ended or bottomed out yet..pundits are always so quick to claim something is 'over' when it hasn't even begun.

 

[Colleen27]

The biggest hurt in my part of the world IMO is gas prices-it puts an excessive tax on the consumer. If gas were $1 a gallon less, that would put $15-20 a week into people's pockets, which more than likely would mean an extra meal out. More demand is what is needed to create jobs. Creating demand is done by giving people money to spend. Taxes don't need lowered, we just need an answer as to why gas was $4 a gallon when oil was $147 in 2008, but oil is $85 now and gas is still $4 a gallon.

Yeah, that's what is killing us here too. This is usually a big weekend for tourism/boating in my area and you wouldn't even know it is the weekend. I would love to see some sort of rationale for the current gas prices, because right now we're paying MORE at the pump than we were over the 4th of July when oil was trading 20-odd dollars per barrel higher than it is right now. We haven't seen gas prices budge despite the months-long downward trend in oil prices; $3.89/gal at 4th of July, $3.80-3.85 all summer, and up to $3.94 for the "holiday premium" this weekend. Given the current pricing trends I don't guess we'll see the usual drop when they switch from summer to winter blend either.

Aside from gas prices I'm starting to see glimmers of improvement even here in Michigan where the jobs really won't ever come back to past levels. If gas prices fell to where they were last time oil was under $90/barrel (right around $3/gal) I believe we'd see real, marked improvement. But I don't think anyone in the oil/gas industry wants to see that happen because if we get used to paying $3 again they'll have to deal with the outrage over $4+ all over again when it goes up. It is easier just to keep the public accustomed to the higher prices regardless of the cost of oil.

 

[blondietink]

The recession here has never ended. I have been unemployed for 15 months now when my job was eliminated and there is no job in sight. This college educated woman in her 50's has seen age discrimination at it's finest. the only job I have been offered was one making $9.00 per hour for 6 hours per day with one ten minute break. I have dependent care expenses that cost me between $15.00 - $20.00 per hour, so a $9.00 per hour job won't do me any good. I am further ahead by staying home.

The unemployment rate in this county is 11%, but state wide it is below 8%, so there are no enhanced unemployment benefits.

The housing market here is stable, but home values never rose like they did in other areas of the country/state.

 

[WDWisTheBest]

I think it's going to get harder. We'll be feeling the effects of this economy for a long time.

I believe you are correct.

 

[Trinity524]

I work for one of the largest bank's in America and I have done nothing but hire people all year. Unfortunately, whether or not people want to come to work is our biggest issue. I wish I could hire some of the people on this board. We are hurting for good people.

San Antonio doing really well in the economy and we have not been hit by the recession too hard. We have been without raises like many of the country and while some departments are no longer here, other departments have taken their place.

 

[crisi]

We are waiting for employment to bounce back. Guess what - this is the "new" new economy. Employment won't bounce back - not quickly. We are going to have to adapt as a society to a place where almost everyone will go through a lengthy period of unemployment. It will take college grads a while to establish themselves. Corporate growth will be slow. This is it for ten - maybe twenty - years.

If we continue to allow our spirits to be affected by the jobs report because we expect those jobs to come back, we will slide backwards. If we accept our new reality, we will move forward.

I'm not saying it will be easy to adapt to our new reality. It SUCKS to be out of work. Its scary for our kids.

 

[marmalade]

I work for one of the largest bank's in America and I have done nothing but hire people all year. Unfortunately, whether or not people want to come to work is our biggest issue. I wish I could hire some of the people on this board. We are hurting for good people.

San Antonio doing really well in the economy and we have not been hit by the recession too hard. We have been without raises like many of the country and while some departments are no longer here, other departments have taken their place.

But how much do your jobs pay? In NY the max weekly unemployment is $405, a lot of people stay on U/E as long as they can because the jobs they find only pay $9 or $10/hr. They will lose money taking a job.

 

[Laketravis]

I work for one of the largest bank's in America and I have done nothing but hire people all year. Unfortunately, whether or not people want to come to work is our biggest issue. I wish I could hire some of the people on this board. We are hurting for good people.

San Antonio doing really well in the economy and we have not been hit by the recession too hard. We have been without raises like many of the country and while some departments are no longer here, other departments have taken their place.

I'm in Austin and have the exact same problem. My entry level staff start out at $11.50 an hour and can WORK FROM HOME after six weeks on-site! (It's a call center). I am hiring six people every month and only two make it thru training. The reason the other four don't isn't because they can't do it, it's because they can't manage to show up for work.

I'm seeing a whole different attitude and work ethic (or lack of) with the segment of the workforce who are in their early to mid 20's. A steady, good paying job just isn't that big of a deal to them.

Used to be you'd never think of missing a day of work when you started a new job. Now, people call out because their cat isn't in a good mood or they are upset because their favorite got booted off of American Idol.

 

[mpls_mm]

I'm in Austin and have the exact same problem. My entry level staff start out at $11.50 an hour and can WORK FROM HOME after six weeks on-site! (It's a call center). I am hiring six people every month and only two make it thru training. The reason the other four don't isn't because they can't do it, it's because they can't manage to show up for work.

I'm seeing a whole different attitude and work ethic (or lack of) with the segment of the workforce who are in their early to mid 20's. A steady, good paying job just isn't that big of a deal to them.

Used to be you'd never think of missing a day of work when you started a new job. Now, people call out because their cat isn't in a good mood or they are upset because their favorite got booted off of American Idol.

Our problem if you can find good help is they only have to work 90 days to collect unemployment. So plenty of employees are great for 90 days and then try to get fired. We had only guy quit at 91 days, he stormed out in a hail of obscenities in front of 6 witnesses. He filed for unemployment and he will probably get it even though he quit, I have lost every claim even with emailed resignations. Unemployment always finds for employees. He started at $10 an hour and just got a raise to $13.50, his unemployment benefit paperwork stated he was eligible for $485 a week They must figure the last wage he got, even though he only got that for 2 weeks. His unemployment will pay more than he got when he started.

 

[mpls_mm]

There is a lot on this board about what is a fair wage, $10 an hour is a very fair wage around here and $13 is considered very well paid. Rent for a 3 bedroom house averages $450 and daycare is between $75-85wk. All retail jobs pay minimum wage here and my friend is an auditor for a big hotel chain and she makes $8 an hour and is happy. For us to start at $10 is very generous, so please don't call me cheap!

 

[ShellyLynn3630]

I make nearly 15 an hour.

 

[karice2]

I have been reading this thread and do believe that we are going to be in this recession for a while to come. What is shocking to me is the salaries that people think are very good salaries. In our area, one has to make at least $25an hour to be middle class.

Our area didn't get as hard by the recession as some other parts of the country but with the new requirements for the Pentagon to cut it's budget, there will be impacts across the nation. A lot of people don't understand how much the Defense budget impacts the entire country.

Usually high unemployment sparks creativity and small businesses but it is very difficult for people to do that when no one has any money for anything extra.

 

[crisi]

I have been reading this thread and do believe that we are going to be in this recession for a while to come. What is shocking to me is the salaries that people think are very good salaries. In our area, one has to make at least $25an hour to be middle class.

We've been out of the recession for quite a while. Recession is an economic term that has to do with growth in GDP. It has nothing to do with how many people are out of work. If robots can build everything and sell it to China at an increasing rate, with 100% of Americans out of work, we aren't in a recession. It would suck for the American worker, but it wouldn't be a recession.

(ETA: It does have something to do with how many people are out of work - and how much people are paid as well - as consumer activity is a driver for GDP. If we don't have people working, we don't have people buying - its interrelated. But at the same time, if we increase exports and productivity, its possible to grow GDP without creating jobs).

 

[akhenaten]

The great new is you can default on more CCs and blame it on the economy.

Yeah I have seen too many people doing that or short selling their homes... yet they still manage to take their vacations????
That sure is not helping the economic stability of the country...

 

[ShellyLynn3630]

I am helping the economy, well at least Disneys economy that is.

 

[MrsPete]

We are waiting for employment to bounce back. Guess what - this is the "new" new economy. Employment won't bounce back - not quickly. We are going to have to adapt as a society to a place where almost everyone will go through a lengthy period of unemployment. It will take college grads a while to establish themselves. Corporate growth will be slow. This is it for ten - maybe twenty - years.

This is very close to my thinking.

I don't think it's really true that we've been in a recession for the last couple years; rather, I think we've been in a CORRECTION. For the last 20 years or so we (collective "we", society as a whole) have been living way beyond our means. Individuals've been spending more than they earn. People've been buying "more house than they can afford". Companies have been using government bailouts. And the government's financial sins may be the worst of all. In those 20-or-so years, we've started to THINK of this as NORMAL, when in reality it's been something of a temporary bubble. We as a country could not go on spending more than we earned.

We can see a dozen or so big things that came together all at once to create this perfect storm that created this over-spending frenzy: It started with the onslaught of women in the workplace, which led to greater wealth for families, which led to more consumer-driven spending. Automation in the workplace was a big part of it: Goods can be produced and sold more cheaply than they could in the past -- and that availability of goods has led to an increase in consumer appetites. It was fueled by easy credit and "creative" financing on mortgages. It went into overdrive when the impossible concept of "good debt" was accepted. That's not all, by any mean.

Now things are going back to normal. We're shifting back to a SUSTAINABLE economy, but it's tough because we owe from the bubble-years.