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Technically speaking, the U.S. has emerged from the recession in June of 2009. Practically speaking, however, this recovery feels like anything but for the majority of Americans. The national unemployment rate hovers just below 10%, and the percentage of people who are underemployed has reached, by some measures, a third of the working population. Foreclosure is still a menace threatening many underwater homeowners.
Even though the experts say the recession is over, and that we are on our way to a recovery (albeit, a painfully slow one), what I am seeing around me and hearing in the news sure doesn't feel like a recovery to me.
Which brings me to the question: what really makes us, American citizens, feel like the economy is getting better? Is it tax cuts? Having a job? Getting a raise? Not losing our home?
For me, and for most Americans, I imagine, the answer is "jobs, jobs, jobs." The national unemployment rate has been at or above 9.5% for the past fourteen months. My state, California, is at 12.6% unemployment rate right now, a full three percentage points above the national average. For many who have lost their jobs in this economic downturn, this recession has turned into a financial catastrophe. A recent CBS episode focused on the plight of several 99ers (people who have exhausted their 99 weeks of unemployment benefits or are facing the deadline and have no prospects for a new job) in Silicon Valley.
Hearing stories of former consultants, engineers, and managers who have lost their homes, cashed out their 401Ks, and moved in with friends are frankly terrifying. It is no wonder that most Americans remain pessimistic about the economy. It is difficult to feel upbeat about a percentage increase in the GDP when you or a friend you know are struggling.
The job worries are by no means limited to older workers. College graduates and young professionals are also feeling the crunch. A friend of mine graduated from a top University of California school. He is currently making less than $10 an hour, without any benefits. I spoke with a Ivy League MBA student who graduated in the dark days of 2008 and spent the next 14 months searching for a post-business school position. He eventually landed a great job and is happy with his education. Still, spending more than a year job-searching was certainly not, he admitted, something he had expected when he first entered business school. Even students who do land offers must work harder, network deeper, interview better to get those jobs.
Even for people who have jobs, it is hard to feel secure or optimistic about the future. I imagine that many people are like me: we are hesitant to spend because the world around us feels so uncertain. Economic recovery will come, I believe that (I must). I just hope it is not too far away, because as the famous economist John Maynard Keynes has said, "in the long run we are all dead.
Savvy Living Through Personal Finance and Wellheeled on Twitter.
