I’ve read a number of stories and reports online and off-line (yes, in the “real” daily newspaper I still read most days) in which economists are saying there are cautious signs that this recession may be ending, or at least that we’ve turned a corner, bounced off the bottom, or whatever. But most of those articles and reports say that new job creation still isn’t happening — but also that (and I don’t know whether this is true or not) job creation is usually the last thing to recover when we’re coming out of a recession or economic downturn.
Which is to say: All those people out there hurting for jobs could use a little less economic theory and probably a little more income!
All this makes me sad and somewhat angry at the way our country’s economy has been going the last couple of decades, not just during this current recession. We have moved well away from a manufacturing- or production-based economy to a service-based economy. I don’t think you can place any “blame” on anyone in particular for this. It’s largely because we’re part of a world that’s changed radically in the last 20 years.
The good news, here in Springfield, Missouri, for example is this: Our area is extremely “service” oriented, so we’ve survived the recession job losses better than somewhere, say, like Detroit. The bad news here in Springfield, Missouri, and in much of the country is this: Service-based economy means jobs that are overall low paying. In Springfield specifically, the second or third largest segment of our job market is calling centers or the “fulfillment center” industry. Although a number of calling centers closed or cut back employees in the last year or two, they remained fairly stable. But the top wages at such places — TOP wages, not entry level — run around $9-$10 an hour.
So though the recession may be looking better, and though job losses are declining, new job creation is still not there — and in areas such as ours, jobs which were not hit hard by the recession continue to be low paying and not too hopeful.
But perhaps hopeful is the key word we need to focus on. Every uptick in the stock market, stabilization of home values, and leveling off of the unemployment rate is a good thing. And those of us who’ve lived a few years in this great land know that we’ve survived and prospered in America through some really hard times. We will again!