how is the economy really doing?

Currently, I don't know what the economic stats are. Quite honestly, trying to understand different aspects of the economy is like trying to learn Ancient Greek for me. Unless people are able to dumb it down, forget it.....I simply won't get it.

What I do understand is things that hit more on a personal level. If my ability to earn a paycheck is affected, I can grasp it. Cost of food goes up? Fuel costs? Can I afford to buy luxury items? Anything that affects me directly is something I can understand.

This brings me to stuff that I've been noticing more and more, as of late. Generally speaking, the local job market. Specifically? My brother's ability to get a job.

Over the last several months, he's been playing hell getting any kind of job. Part-time. Full-time. Seasonal. Doesn't seem to matter. Getting any kind of work is difficult to come by. Even with companies that are clearly advertising "WE NEED HELP" are dragging their feet, to put it nicely. If the stories I'm hearing are true, my brother isn't the only one suffering from this problem. We've been hearing plenty of complaints that companies need more help, yet there are people who can't land a job to save their lives.

From stories I've heard from various people, my brother isn't the only one suffering this problem. Most of what I hear is stuff that you don't hear about on a regular basis.....not unless you truly stop to pay attention to what's going on around you. I've heard people at different food banks mentioning that there's been a greater need for help during the last year or so. Depending on the food bank, some have been having problems keeping their shelves stocked long enough to make a difference.

I don't know if things are just slowing down in the area or if there are bigger problems that I'm unaware of. Maybe some of the issues I'm noticing are issues I simply didn't notice previously. That could just as easily be the case.

I would like to see real, actual stats on how well the economy is really doing. Where are the jobs at? Are they in retail? Food service? Financial? Public sector? Education? Manufacturing?

Are these jobs full-time? Are most of the jobs part-time? What's the under-employment rate? Are we keeping track of people who are collecting unemployment checks? What about the people who aren't getting unemployment checks? What about the people that the government isn't keeping track of?

Stats tell part of the story. How much of the story are we getting? How much are we missing?

Maybe we're smart for trying to be our own bosses. Perhaps self-employment is better then having a traditional job. Maybe this is just a string of lousy luck.

I'm confident that our fortunes will change eventually. It's just a question of time. We've hit some pretty low points in life before and managed to bounce back. We'll bounce back again. It's just a question of how long before things change for us. When our life improves, it'll be well worthwhile.