Economic Recovery (LOL)
Commentators way wiser than I are proclaiming the slight decrease in the unemployment rate signals a turn-around for the American economy. Let me state my less wise view:
After 19 months I am still unemployed. Every day I sign on to a message board for unemployed residents of my state and the posts are right back to where they were before Congress introduced a bill to further extend unemployment benefits last year. The major difference is there is no further extension proposed so members have stopped posting the results of contacts they made with their legislators urging passage of the extension. They are now posting queries about social service availability so they can feed their families, keep a roof over their heads, and pay their utility bills.
Within a one mile radius of my apartment a convenience store that has been on the same corner for over 25 years has closed. The local Food Lion Store is closing within days after 20 years at the same location. An outlet of a big discount store is closing next month. A discount store retailing primarily clothing closed at the end of December and a Bealls Outlet store that opened about 3 years ago will close before the end of this month.
The buses I ride are more and more crowded every day. Since conversations cannot be private on a bus I will tell you that I have heard many riders state that their cars were repossessed and others have said they cannot afford to register and/or insure a vehicle because they had been laid off and cannot find another job.
Once again, the daily report of court records in the local newspaper are reporting many arrests for theft, burglary, and writing bad checks. These arrests are outnumbering the drug related arrests. The decrease in drug related arrests would be a cause for celebration if I was not positive that the drug users who used to support their habit through employment are no longer earning a salary and are committing larcenous crimes to buy their drugs.
I really would like to be as optimistic as the commentators more wise than myself, but my eyes, ears and intellect are telling me that the decrease in unemployment rate is due to something other than an economic turn around.
