The economy

[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...