It was announced today that the “official” unemployment rate hit 10.2% last month.
In other news the president will sign into law another mini-stimulus bill extending the $8,000 tax credit for home buyers and extending unemployment. The bill includes a provision that gives an additional six weeks of unemployment pay to those that live in states with an unemployment rate over 8.5%. That’s fair isn’t it? I guess that families do not suffer as badly if the unemployment rate is under 8.5%, right? Interestingly enough those that get extended benefits are not included in the “official” unemployment rate.
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November 6th, 2009 at 11:08 am
While a lot of people think the actual rate is closing in on 15%, I know it’s hit hard in Central Ohio.
Over the last nine months my morning commute up 33 has gotten less congested, to a very noticable degree. I realize that they have changed some access and routing, but this was finished almost a year ago, and I don’t think it had that much effect.
Comments????
November 8th, 2009 at 5:19 am
I will say this in defense of the administration: this isn’t the first time that there has been a recession where employment lagged other signs of recovery by several months, but usually the media is far more vocal about the “unfairness” of that happening. This time around they seem very accepting of the notion.
Beyond that, there is still much to be debated about the cause and effect of what improvement there has been in the economy. There will be those who will credit the administration for any economic improvement and those who will say that the recovery is occuring despite the administration regardless of circumstances. What I’d like to discuss is the cause and effect scenarios that support both those arguments and try to document which scenario has more factual basis.
November 8th, 2009 at 9:39 am
I would overly agree with fatterguy. I mean, many of the things crabby that you continue to put down has helped over here in Northern VA. I know many homeowners that have capitalized on improving their homes and hiring local contractors to install new windows, new furnaces, etc… which is all improving the values and quality of the houses here. A couple of years ago I would have never considered buying new windows… but I have considered it now.
I must say that I have no doubt it will continue to take a long time for this economy to improve. And frankly in Lancaster, that is why my wife and I left in the first place. I know that here at least we do have that federal government to continue and drive the economy. There is a lot of word that soldiers will continue to be stationed in our area which will also improve our economy.
November 8th, 2009 at 9:40 am
Crazy stories here from my own standpoint … we bought in early 2007… and we thought we were getting a steal since the house was about $60k less than 6 months earlier… and now our house is about $75k less than what we bought it for even with these stimulus packages. It’s unbelievably discouraging when we bought it to be a starter home… we bought it with a nice downpayment and did all the right things with a locked 30 year rate. Now we make too much money to be bailed out… yet not enough to really get ahead! And now we are paying $700 a month for daycare for our baby and we pay almost $2.5k a month in a mortgage that we are stuck in for seemingly a long time! And our salaries will probably decrease soon.
My wife and I both have Masters degrees and yet we are barely making it in many ways! I cannot believe that we now have to shop at Aldis… things like this. And scary enough… realtors and creditors wanted me to buy a house where my mortgage would have been over 50% of my monthly income back in 2007! I should have been foolish enough to do it… because then I would have been bailed out like my neighbor who now has to pay 700 less a month on his mortgage. Things are so insane here that I don’t know where to begin!
November 8th, 2009 at 10:46 am
Let’s take a vote.
How many of us are paying $2500 a month mortgage on a starter home?
The median price of homes in Detroit is $7500, and no, I did NOT leave out a zero.
November 8th, 2009 at 1:10 pm
Yeah but Aunt Eek… it is totally different. Around DC in 2007, $300,000 to $400,000 got you a decent 2,000 square foot house, town house, or condo. It’s all relative. My wife and I have middle class jobs. If we wanted a house with an acre of land or heaven forbid a nice large backyard and a 2 car garage, then we would have to have spent closer to $500,000 or $600,000… something we could not have afforded. Basically the size of a larger Dominion home in Lancaster.
If we worked in Lancaster with the same jobs, we would each probably make $15k less a year and have a house for around $150k. And we would take that in a HEARTBEAT… but quite simply there are no jobs. It is fairly relative. All else is about equal… we get paid more to pay for our houses around here. Of course now with our incomes going down as well… you have all of these people as myself in their 20s with astronomical mortgages in multiple 100s of thousands of dollars and our salaries are decreasing… lucky for my wife and I we still have a savings and we paid off our cars and college already… or else we would be in massive trouble. But I will say that many of my peers are in that exact situation.
November 8th, 2009 at 3:45 pm
OhioBobcat… I now understand…
700 for daycare plus 2.5k for mortgage…and you gripe cause you shop at an aldis..
eeeww you got it so tough. Aldis is a great place to shop no matter what your income. nuff on that.
its nice to see you are doing well..congrats.. but the avg joe in Lancaster ISNT.
This isnt Va it is Lancaster OHIO… I have a sister who lives in the DC area (silver springs) and has a wonderful house for not NEARLY the price you quoted and SHES doing ok… Sounds like to me you either was snookered or wasnt smart enough to realize you couldnt afford what you were purchasing.
either way i hope you recover and do well….
but here in OHIO the same “help” the current admin is offering isnt working here. People need JOBS not “payments” Elderly need cost of living increases not 250 dollars payments…
Jobs in Ohio are becoming harder and harder to find other than Min Wage jobs..
and with the current Health Care plan proposed that cost of Living wont cut it anymore…(house passed a requirement that included ALL people will be required to purchase health care)
so the unemployement rises and the outlook isnt promising right now. Im glad your doing ok in DC area but Lancaster Ohio isnt.
November 9th, 2009 at 6:50 am
Oh I knew this would happen. This is not a “oh boy look at me” and certainly I am not looking for a pity party… I know there are far worse out there and I feel for them. When my friends from Lancaster found out how much I spent on my house, they say either that I am crazy or that I am stupid, or they think I have a big head.
My wife and I wanted to stay in Lancaster. We wanted to live in a small town… have a part of the American dream and we would be happy. Fact is that we could not. It was not our choice to do this, it was for our survival. Again, when we were buying when the height was over, houses next to us were $60k less than what they were at the height. Rates were still decent… who knew? Actually yeah I do feel suckered… but then again all the advice from all the professionals would be that it was going to go up again. We went to a few major lenders including ones from Bank of America. They wanted us to put no downpayment and go for a mortgage with another $70k if we wanted. I declined on both and did the downpayment. I asked them if people actually put out loans based on 50% of their income or higher. The guy in his suit laughed and said “all the time”. Actually he applauded me for not.
…And that is my point. The arrogance and pure greed on all ends. Not to “show off”. I feel for the people in Lancaster. I really do. My family is there. Who knows? If things do turn around… I would love to get out of my mortgage and return. Shopping at Aldi’s… yeah it is a decent store. And that is no knock. And yeah my income will start to decrease. The power of our money will continue to decrease. It will be interesting. I guess I felt as if I did the right things overall with saving my money, having near perfect credit, no other debt and extended education and yet who knows? We could be heading to a short sale or a foreclosure some day.