Hope?

[Pete]

I've read economists predict 170K jobs created in March. I live in So Cal and belong to a very large family and have many friends. Except for the gov't workers, most of them are un or under employed. The local economy really looks bad to me. Any reason to believe my sample is too small or too localized, and that the economists predictions are right? How does it look in your areas?

 

[haha]

I've read economists predict 170K jobs created in March. I live in So Cal and belong to a very large family and have many friends. Except for the gov't workers, most of them are un or under employed. The local economy really looks bad to me. Any reason to believe my sample is too small or too localized, and that the economists predictions are right? How does it look in your areas?

Weak here in Seattle. Even RE agents are talking about a double dip real estate market, and they are a very optimistic group. At least when talking to potential buyers.

Ha

 

[Onward]

I'm in the Inland Empire, CA. One of my friends is a fireman with a steady job. Another co-owns a boat dealership and is struggling big time. Another owns a manufacturing company and is staying fairly busy. Another owns a trucking company and is very busy & adding trucks.

 

[kumquat]

Employment is high here. Unemployment rate < 5%. Winter temps < -40 (go figure).

 

[W2R]

We, too, were hit less severely than areas like California.

Of course the TYPE of employment available in Louisiana has always been an issue though past decades to the present - - if you want a high paying job, it probably isn't here and never has been here. Our unemployment is higher than it used to be, but we are not seeing massive unemployment to the degree that you are seeing.

 

[WhoDaresWins]

I don't have first hand knowledge of the employment picture here in western PA. We went through a big contraction in jobs in the late 70's and early 80s's when the steel mills closed. However, the area has regained jobs in health care, education, government, tech sector. A recently retired friend just told me today she sold her house for near the asking price after 3 weeks on the market(tripled her purchase price in 15 years). She is moving home to Alabama to be near family. We never had the big run ups in the economy and real estate that places like CA, Wash. D. C area, Boston, New York, resort areas had.

 

[LOL!]

Weak in Texas. Wife's company laid off 10% of the employees this week. My company laid off 3% of employees last week.

 

[Gone4Good]

170,000 new jobs out of a labor force of 154MM is 0.1%. That means if you know 1,000 people, one will probably have gotten a job in March.

Do you think you'd notice?

 

[audreyh1]

Things are hopping here in deep south TX. Even though this area traditionally has high unemployment, two nearby cities are going great gangbusters.

And the Mexican day shoppers crossing the border to buy up goodies at the big box stores around here seem really well off and are spending like crazy!

Audrey

 

[Nodak]

North Dakota is another area with a good economy. Unemployment is less than 5%, the state has a budget surplus, and taxes are low. Most of that is due to large oil and coal deposits and a great potential for wind energy. However, we also have 5 or 6 months of winter and in January the temps can be -40.

 

[W2R]

The Bureau of Labor Statistics lists February, 2010 unemployment rates by state here. I thought reading them (on the right hand side of the webpage) was interesting, and also they provide maps.

 

[Walt34]

WV is looking better overall. But when unemployment was at 10.5% that leaves a lot of room for improvement.

The company I work for is going to add four positions at our site, two full time and two part time, but that is due to federal government spending on contracting work.

 

[msbearkeley]

I'm involved with hiring people for my company in many parts of the country so here's my take:

- Chicago - it took a beating so folks, especially financial services industry are still worried about more regulations so definitely being conservative with the hiring or making any drastic changes; hearing of still some cuts, but may have settled down for the most part

- Detroit - seems to be calming down - haven't heard much about any more serious cuts, but no hiring either

- Other mid-west states (WI, MN, for example) - unfortunately, if employers aren't cutting, they are thinking twice about hiring for replacement, so not a lot of job growth

- DC Metro (DC, VA, MD) has been insulated given the Fed's presence (and all the contractors in the area supporting them), but despite that, reality is that there are still a lot of folks unemployed.

AARA funds are just now hitting the streets though, so hopefully there is hope...if you have the right skill sets and can move to the area where the right match for your skills are going to be.....

 

[traineeinvestor]

March 2009 - I went to several cities in the US on business. AIG bonuses and Madoff were the hot topics of the day. There was a huge amount of negative sentiment among most of the people I met (predominantly finance types). Most people worked for organisations that had made extensive headcount reductions - none were hiring.

March 2010 - a trip to NY during which I experienced a measure of cautious optimisim. Some of the people I spoke to mentioned that they (or their employers) were hiring or had already done so.

These are relatively small samples taken over a very short period, but the difference in sentiment was very noticable.