Out of about a dozen friends I keep in contact with only 1 is unemployed, and he's been that way for many years. The guy that owns the pizza shop I frequently go to just got a new 5 series BMW. If this is what the worst economy since the 1930's looks like then I can only imagine what the best economy since 1999 will be like. Or maybe it can get a lot worse.
I would say adding location where you live would paint clearer picture. I live in Tri-State and not one of my friends unemployed. However, many of them had their income reduced by 1/3 or even 1/2.
I know a bunch of blue collared people who are out of work but very few white collared. Blue Collar has been especially hard by this recession.
Los Angeles One had his hours cut by third Second went from 210K to 90K Third from 65K to 50K We have an opening at for a Business analyst position so far in about a week as of yesterday over 110 resumes were received.
ZERO, and it's been like that throughout this mythical "worst recession in 70 years". The media really did their best to scare the shit out of everyone and got alot of average working class people to dump their 401k's and stocks at the lows (to Goldman Sachs). Even better is the fact that a couple of trader friends who blew out over the last year had no problem finding decent paying white collar jobs. I'm in the NYC area.
Here in my part of Mississippi and other towns about this size this recession/depression whatever it is you want to call it started in the mid to late 90s really. This is a hella small town of about 1,200 but we had 2 factories up until 1997 or so. One was an alternator factory and the other a blue jean plant. Now you either have to do something like trading or work at the high school where I sub at sometimes or drive about an hour each way to work like most people do around here if they can actually find a job. This is the same situation for most towns about this size since all those small factories were moved to China.
You're right, towns like this that were built around 1 or maybe 2 manufacturers are really a thing of the past. You have to have some mobility now and move to more populated areas in order to have a better chance in life. If an entire town is dependant on 1 single employer, all it takes is one factory to shut down (or even reduce a shift) and you're screwed.
The official unemployment rate in my county (Bedford, TN) is over 13%. A lot of the jobs lost were in manufacturing. Plants closing permanently (GM plant in Spring Hill, Bridgestone tire plant in LaVergne, other assorted factories) The trucking industry which is big around here is also suffering. My neighbor down the road is laid off from his trucking job, his wife will be out of work when they close the sharpie pen factory in town. How many people do I know that are laid off? Too many. Be thankful if your area hasn't been hit hard yet. Don't pretend it isn't happening though.
Neighbor just lost his welding job..he's now delivering the local paper just to make a little $. I respect him for that.
You guys don't know enough people. Unofficial unemployment numbers are near 20%. The Great Depression of the 30's will look like boom days for what's in store for us.