mike Posted February 8, 2011 Report Share Posted February 8, 2011 Whats your take on the economy right now? I am a contractor and I have been bidding more jobs this winter than I have in a long time. One would think that people are starting to get some confidence back in the economy. Anyone see anything that makes them think things are on the up or down either way? Hopefully this isn't just a false sense of security but some actual progress. What is your opinion? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravin R10 man Posted February 8, 2011 Report Share Posted February 8, 2011 I dont see any change here...with fuel price things are not looking good...see alot of "toys" for sale tax returns are due out soon that may help some for a short time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tominator Posted February 9, 2011 Report Share Posted February 9, 2011 I'd say you're in an industry where you will see the economic barometer first. I'm in an industry where you typically see it last. It's finally starting to trickle down to the education level. There's talk that they will be cutting staff and programs next year as our board has decided to not put a levy on the ballot this spring. People can't pay their taxes and that hurts all government functions including state services. Our state continues to cut our budgets and people can't pay their property tax so they get foreclosed. We didn't get a raise last year, and I don't think our next contract that we will probably ratify in August will be any better, in fact, it's more likely that we will go backwards again because our health insurance will go up. Let's just say I've seen better times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MUDRUNNER Posted February 9, 2011 Report Share Posted February 9, 2011 Things still seem stagnant around here. Jobs are still hard to come by and the unemployment rate is the same as it was this time last year. Here at the shop I work at we had 30 people working here 5 years ago, now we have 7 with no immediate plans to add people. I haven't seen a raise in a few years, and I know a few people that have been on unemployment for over a year now. Illinois just raised the state income tax for both employers and employees, and to make up for the increase the company I work for is dropping the company sponsored health insurance. It's gonna be a tough year for me personally. I heard on the news this morning that they expect $4 per gallon of gas by the end of summer, which I could see totally putting the brakes on any hope of a recovery in the next year or two. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted February 9, 2011 Report Share Posted February 9, 2011 My thoughts are that the liberals would like for us to think that the economy is recovering under this presidency. Makes it kind of difficult to know where this country really is when you have pollsters giving the media skewed results, yet you look around you and things don't look quite as great as they are suggesting. Some media I believe are exploiting or giving false hype/hopes with bias. Unemployment is still a huge issue and does not seem to be getting any better, at least not around here. Perfect example the nursing home my wife works at gets countless applications for folks willing to take any job at low wages, some of those are folks with bachelors degrees or even higher education levels who simply cannot find work. To me looks pretty bad when a college grad is asking for a job that does not even pay $8 an hour. On homes, there was what I figure was a lul in home building/construction in this area. There is a certain area south of us around where the county schools are located that had exploded with growth with middle and upper middle income housing back under George Bush's presidency. Home building there came to a complete stop in 2009 and then picked back up some last year, but seems to be slowing significantly once again. Lots of empty lots that are not being broken ground on. Almost seems to be cyclic, but wonder though how much of the news on foreclosures might be influencing new home construction. If the economy were truly recovering seems to me there would not be the rise in foreclosures and construction would be moving on. If we see the rise in fuel prices that are being suggested I am afraid it will only get worse. Some folks forget that Obama said he wanted to see gas prices over $12 a gallon in order to make us less dependant on oil, either he is so far out of touch with reality that he does not understand that that would destroy working class America or he knows exactly what it will do and is part of a socialist agenda. At any rate, hope he is out before he has the chance and hope it never gets to that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruttinbuc Posted February 9, 2011 Report Share Posted February 9, 2011 You can only hope that the bids are a sign of things picking up. I certainly hope the job market opens up for the most part. From what I see everything is a lot slower than even last year. Empty storefronts continue to appear and more real estate signs showing up. In talking with a lot of those working there is a lot of overtime and higher demands on them. The temp agencies are still up to no good in their hiring people until they are ready to go full time and then letting them go. Why is it that these companies they represent ever lose any cars in the parking lot. Very hard to keep positive about much of anything here when you see the scam going on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Kat Posted February 9, 2011 Report Share Posted February 9, 2011 Works picked up in the gas/oil field. Always a good sign. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TBow Posted February 9, 2011 Report Share Posted February 9, 2011 Being from Canada, we always tend to think, "where goes the US economy, so goes Canada". We have a habit of paying attention to the political and economic trends south of the border. On a business news network I watch, they indicated that over 9 million jobs were lost during the 2008/09 downturn in the US. During 2010, they mentioned that over 900,000 of those jobs lost in the US have been recouped, and they use those numbers as indicators of a pending recovery, not a total recovery. That's still leaving a lot of americans out of work. They have indicated that the recovery will most likely be supported by growth in small business, not large industries. The growth of large industrials will be the result of a healthy small business environment. Canada went through hard economic times during the early and mid 1990s and the government of the time initiated some hard to swallow austerity programs. I know I personally went through almost 7 years without any raises and subsequent years of salary increases in the 1.0 to 1.5% raises per year. The government of the day (Paul Martin's Liberals) was very unpopular. But in hindsight, the tough economic measures they took then, has placed Canada as the envy of most if not all of the G7 countries. We weathered the 08/09 downturn in better condition than most countries in the world. Our gas at the pumps is priced in litres and typically is running about $1.15/L which translates into $5.22 cdn per Imperial gallon (that's about $4.55 US/ US gallon). We grudgingly pay it, but life goes on. The austerity programs we struggled through in the 90s, took about 8 to 10 years to see significant progress on the road to economic recovery and better times. Recovery from such tough times such as this are meaured in years, not months. In our case, we voted out the government (Liberals) who put us through these austerity programs of the 90s and it has been the subsequent government (Conservatives) who have reaped the political benefit of the more secure economic environment that Canada now finds themselves in. And Paul Martin, the Liberal Finance Minister and subsequently the Liberal Prime Minister, is now being asked to be a financial consultant throughout Europe to not only explain what measures they took in the 90s to see Canada through tough times, but also how the government of the day sold such austerity programs to the tax paying citizens. In retrospect, the Liberals during the 90s showed a significant amout of foresight and initiated progarms that were hard to swallow, but secured our future. And this is just my personal humble opinion looking from outside, but the US economic troubles were fostered during the Bush years. The current administration is merely the unfortunate heirs of financial catastrophe of the the boon and doom Bush economics. America's strength has always been in it's technological and manufacturing communities which have always been fostered by a healthy academic system. But the sentiment in the world today is that the issue troubling a large portion of the world is it's ability, or rather it's inability to feed their populations. I think our road to better times will be germinated in the labratories finding better ways to grow food and in the fields where those technologies will be proven. Studies have shown that the average age of farmers in now about 58 years old. We are not creating an environment to encourage our youth to remain on the land which is something that will have to change. The growth in the agricultural communities should certainly have affect on small business and manufacturing......hopefully. TBow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bug House Posted February 9, 2011 Report Share Posted February 9, 2011 Being from Canada, we always tend to think, "where goes the US economy, so goes Canada". We have a habit of paying attention to the political and economic trends south of the border. On a business news network I watch, they indicated that over 9 million jobs were lost during the 2008/09 downturn in the US. During 2010, they mentioned that over 900,000 of those jobs lost in the US have been recouped, and they use those numbers as indicators of a pending recovery, not a total recovery. That's still leaving a lot of americans out of work. They have indicated that the recovery will most likely be supported by growth in small business, not large industries. The growth of large industrials will be the result of a healthy small business environment. Canada went through hard economic times during the early and mid 1990s and the government of the time initiated some hard to swallow austerity programs. I know I personally went through almost 7 years without any raises and subsequent years of salary increases in the 1.0 to 1.5% raises per year. The government of the day (Paul Martin's Liberals) was very unpopular. But in hindsight, the tough economic measures they took then, has placed Canada as the envy of most if not all of the G7 countries. We weathered the 08/09 downturn in better condition than most countries in the world. Our gas at the pumps is priced in litres and typically is running about $1.15/L which translates into $5.22 cdn per Imperial gallon (that's about $4.55 US/ US gallon). We grudgingly pay it, but life goes on. The austerity programs we struggled through in the 90s, took about 8 to 10 years to see significant progress on the road to economic recovery and better times. Recovery from such tough times such as this are meaured in years, not months. In our case, we voted out the government (Liberals) who put us through these austerity programs of the 90s and it has been the subsequent government (Conservatives) who have reaped the political benefit of the more secure economic environment that Canada now finds themselves in. And Paul Martin, the Liberal Finance Minister and subsequently the Liberal Prime Minister, is now being asked to be a financial consultant throughout Europe to not only explain what measures they took in the 90s to see Canada through tough times, but also how the government of the day sold such austerity programs to the tax paying citizens. In retrospect, the Liberals during the 90s showed a significant amout of foresight and initiated progarms that were hard to swallow, but secured our future. And this is just my personal humble opinion looking from outside, but the US economic troubles were fostered during the Bush years. The current administration is merely the unfortunate heirs of financial catastrophe of the the boon and doom Bush economics. America's strength has always been in it's technological and manufacturing communities which have always been fostered by a healthy academic system. But the sentiment in the world today is that the issue troubling a large portion of the world is it's ability, or rather it's inability to feed their populations. I think our road to better times will be germinated in the labratories finding better ways to grow food and in the fields where those technologies will be proven. Studies have shown that the average age of farmers in now about 58 years old. We are not creating an environment to encourage our youth to remain on the land which is something that will have to change. The growth in the agricultural communities should certainly have affect on small business and manufacturing......hopefully. TBow Interesting insight, I would tend to agree with bolded, but that particular road appears to be paved with corporate greed and shady politics / business practices. Monsanto is a perfect example of that. I feel that the "Localvore" movement and subsequent commerce will be a large factor in the future economic portrait of the U.S. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted February 9, 2011 Report Share Posted February 9, 2011 Being from Canada, we always tend to think, "where goes the US economy, so goes Canada". We have a habit of paying attention to the political and economic trends south of the border. On a business news network I watch, they indicated that over 9 million jobs were lost during the 2008/09 downturn in the US. During 2010, they mentioned that over 900,000 of those jobs lost in the US have been recouped, and they use those numbers as indicators of a pending recovery, not a total recovery. That's still leaving a lot of americans out of work. They have indicated that the recovery will most likely be supported by growth in small business, not large industries. The growth of large industrials will be the result of a healthy small business environment. One would have to wonder how many of those jobs were gov't. created jobs such as the census workers that may no longer even exist. Looked good, but really is that the answer to getting the economy back on track by blowing more money just to print more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevebeilgard Posted February 9, 2011 Report Share Posted February 9, 2011 One would have to wonder how many of those jobs were gov't. created jobs such as the census workers that may no longer even exist. Looked good, but really is that the answer to getting the economy back on track by blowing more money just to print more. you got it, artie. over 50% are goverment jobs. i think folks are excited with the newbies in washington, and very optimistic. however, i also think that employers still have that "wait and see" attitude. we'll see if washing will do what they were elected to do or if they just join in the "way it was". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m gardner Posted February 10, 2011 Report Share Posted February 10, 2011 It looks like alot of our customer's stock has gone to zero. They want it yesterday when they order it. If they had cash on hand and felt good about the future they would order sooner and feel good about a little inventory. I see more small business going under in the next couple of years as the 5 year (useing 2007 as the last time a marginal business venture could get a loan) business loans come to an end and even though the busines has met it's obligations it doesn't have enough cash to bankroll itself and doesn't fit the criteria to be able to refinance. I don't think things are going to get better because so far the recovery is a hoax. It's like losing your job but not telling your wife and maxing out your credit cards to keep up appearances while hoping a miracle happens and you win the lottery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike Posted February 10, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 10, 2011 It's like losing your job but not telling your wife and maxing out your credit cards to keep up appearances while hoping a miracle happens and you win the lottery. Sweet analogy! While hoping your wrong, I can see your point exactly. Does make alot of sense though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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