Of course not! I am totally serious, the people I know who own and manage businesses in the Chicago/Milwaukee region keep telling me business in the toilet, there is no pricing power, but insurance, local taxes, etc keep increasing.
The only ones that are doing well are the ones in the construction related area, and they are waiting for the bottom to fall out, they just can't believe the housing boom can continue at the present rate of growth.
The ones I know in the service area, lawyers, accountants, dentists, etc are all doing fine...
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And what can we make of this news?>
Unemployment Rate Rises to 9-Year High
By DAVID LEONHARDT
WASHINGTON, June 6 — The unemployment rate rose to 6.1 percent in May, its highest level in nine years, the Labor Department reported today, as the worst jobs slump since the early 1980's continued to spread its pain.
The pace of layoffs has slowed noticably in the last two months, however, suggesting that the economy might have stabilized and could begin adding jobs this summer, forecasters said.
The economy has now lost more than 2.5 million jobs since February 2001, more than was previously thought, according to annual revisions released today by the Labor Department.
It is the longest sustained period without
job growth since before World War II. |
