The economy

[Marigold2]

They say the economy is getting better.
But I don't see that. :(
Working for two Dr's I know people always become ill, in good times and very bad times.
Our phone is quite, our patient load is down.
The stores in our area and doing well. Yet other stores, mostly chains are closing.
Alvins a jewerly store which has been around since I can remember is closing here.
Going into Costco on a Sunday afternoon here is a mad house, tons of people buying, buying, buying.
I know it will take a while for things to get better. How are things in your neck of the woods?

[Laura's Babies]

The company I work for has so many boats tied up that it scares us. We are hoping when everything thaws and the Upper Mississippi River opens that things will change and pick up. I know we are pushing lot smaller tows than we usually do and they have us running in fuel efficiency mode.

I think it is going to get worse before it gets better..... everywhere.

[sparks19]

To be honest... Lancaster doesn't seem to have been hit nearly as hard as every where else. even realtors are thriving. there hasn't been many business' at all close. many business's are continuing to thrive. I know our family friend who opened her bead store three years ago is doing better than ever actually. Same with hubby's company.

We just seem to be in our own little bubble here. I don't know why but it has not hit this area yet nearly as hard as other places. we are very blessed

[Grace]

I live in Michigan - enough said :(

[krazyaboutkatz]

I work in a dental lab and we make crowns and do cosmetic work too. My boss said that in his 40 years of being in this business that last year has been his worst year yet. We're starting to get more business but there are still some employees that are only working part time or not at all. In my department of 2, I'm the only one working full time and my co-worker is only working part time and still collecting unemployment. She also works as the janitor for my company at night and this helps her with her car payment. There are days when I'm extremely busy and then there are days when I'm not so business isn't stable yet. I'm sure it'll take a long time before the economy is like it used to be. I'm just glad that I still have a job, a roof over my head, and that I've been able to keep paying my bills and take care of my cats.

[orangemm]

I'm in banking and our business has dropped as well. We're seeing more customers who have been laid off, have lost their homes, can't pay their bills and accounts that have been charged off.

We are operating with the minimal number of employees; people are being shifted around, sometimes we don't have coverage, and I have gone to part-time status, but that was my wish.:)

The company has tightened up on ordering supplies, we are forbidden to have overtime, and incentive programs have been altered considerably. The budget has been cut for lots of different items and we are making do with what we have.

My husband is self-employed and his work has dropped like a rock. Not much house-building going on, so trim carpenters are not needed.:(

[Laura's Babies]

They have claimed that our area hasn't been hit hard by it either but cuts are being made everywhere....? That sends mixed messages to me.

[catnapper]

People were hit here, but not as hard as elsewhere. I think its because our area has always been depressed, so a dip in the economy is less noticable here.

Work has been good. We had a record 4th quarter. I am hitting bonus every month (yay me!) but this month has been awful. I'll chalk it up to the weather :D :p

We eat out a lot and the places are always busy. Few restaurants have closed, in fact a ton of new places have opened up in the past few months.

[Pembroke_Corgi]

Things are not going well here, especially in the field of education. I am hoping to find a teaching position for the next school year but we may have to move (my husband and I have interviews in New Orleans- cross your fingers for us please!). Most of the districts in the metro area are cutting their budgets (and the state is, too) and laying off teachers instead of hiring. My husband has a very stressful job he is unable to leave because there is nothing else.

[Asiel]

We've seen things go downhill, mostly smaller stores are closing. Somehow the big box stores are taking over but I don't know how they're making it as they always seem empty when we go. Some people have lost their homes, some have moved away and others are about the same. I think it depends on where one is working, some places don't seem to be affected while so many others have closed shop. Lots of layoffs, employers are cutting back, I think mostly due to the box stores moving in. I don't see signs of the economy picking up around here, I feel sorry for the families that just bought new homes and have young children to support. Unemployment has gone up quite a bit. Easy to pick up a new house at a good price right now but I guess it evens out as you get less for yours than a few years ago.

[Marigold2]

I work in a very nice town, there is a new lovely shopping center there very upscale and several shops have closed. I think Z Gallery was the first to go. It's sad for every store that closes means more good people out of work, less money for people to spend and the country keeps going down. It will take years I am afraid for us to get back to where we once where, perhaps 10 to 20. In the meantime a new poor will emerge the once middle to upper class. We the people with two cars who bought or built our sparkling new homes and once shopped at Macy's and Ethen Allen. We who sent our kids to college to become Dr's and IT's, nurses, teachers, business managers. Our children now also suffer just when they are having children of there own to enjoy. It is so sad that you can work like a crazy person and then turn around and not be able to pay your gas bill to stay warm. My heart goes out to all.

[kokopup]

They just announced that one of our oldest pipe plants is closing. I would say that we are effected but not like most of the country. Our city's (Birmingham) budget is in shambles but our state is heathy with announcements of new job being created because of expanded plant capacity or new plants coming in. Birmingham's, and the State for that matter, largest employer is UAB Medical Center/School with over 50,000 direct employee and all of the industries that support a major medical complex. The medical and automoble industry in the state is strong. Most of the new expansions or additions are in the automobile, aviation or medical fields. Trinity Medical is busy finishing the Digital Hospital that Health South started a few years ago. Trinity is now using the old Montclair Baptist Hospital location.

[carole]

Well i do think things are on the up down under, NZ was not as hard hit as the UK and USA, and according to reports one of the first to recover, still got higher unemployment than before the recession and like over 500 applicants for a supermarket job,unbelievable,some people were indeed the casualties in the recession and they may never recover, it is them i feel so sorry for.

We are just about to under go some major tax reform in NZ, first in ages, supposed to make it fairer but increasing GST, good and services tax from 12.5 to maybe 15 per cent, not happy about that, everything is going to cost more, they are off setting it all by tax cuts for everyone and increasing child support,however again the middle income earner always looses out.

[cassiesmom]

Statewide unemployment in Illinois is still around 10%. They say things around here are not getting any worse. But I don't think they are getting better either.

[kitten645]

I think we didn't get here overnight and we won't get out overnight either. I think things are getting better. I think people need to support business that deserves to be supported and make better and more informed choices. I'm still hopeful. ;)

[wombat2u2004]

All is ok in Aussieland, the dollar is strong and there is plenty of work and money around.
Sorry to hear about you guys over there, it must be so tough on some of you.
What surprised me the most ( because I buy militaria from the UK) is how weak the pound is, it has sunk to a real low.

[BitsyNaceyDog]

Things seem to be getting better around here. There are a few new shopping plazas, a couple new restaurants, and a new CVS, that have all popped up in the past several months.

My husband is a computer programmer. He had his own small business, but when things started to get bad 2 years ago he closed up his business and took a job with a bigger company. That company started to see the economic downturn a few months after my husband started. They've just started to see things turn around at the end of 2009. My husband actually just left that job to start his business back up because things look very promising again. The 2 years he was at the other company were a huge struggle for us and I'm glad he's out of there and things are looking much better for us now.

One of my husband's best friends is also a programmer and has his own business (bigger than my husband's). A year ago he had to lay off his employees. He was sure that by April he'd be completely out of work, but he was able to keep it afloat, barely. He's since been able to hire all his employees back and he's even looking to hire more now.

My father-in-law also took a pay cut a couple years ago and is just starting to get some of it back. He's not back up to the salary he was before the big pay cut, but it is starting to come back around.

[Puckstop31]

Our company is very blessed. We are actually growing! We are a 8 employee IT services firm. A smaller competitor of ours is retiring and we are looking to aquire his business. If that is the case, that is another 2 employees we will need to hire.

We are truly blessed...