Feeling the freeze in FloridaByline: Sally F. Zerker
We all know that the stock and housing markets are facing tough times. But even if I hadn’t read a single newspaper or watched even a moment of TV for the past several months, I’d still have recognized serious economic trouble when I arrived here in West Palm Beach for the winter. You can’t miss it.
A condo that would have sold readily for around $100,000 in the hot market about a year ago can’t find a buyer today at $65,000. Many stores I frequented last year are simply gone today. The place where I used to buy freshly baked bagels is closed and the space is for rent. Two of the craft shops where I used to buy yarn for my knitting are out of business. Same goes for the local Office Max — the chain has gone bankrupt.
Even though it is high season here (thanks to the snowbirds), my husband and I are having no trouble making reservations in restaurants that used to be booked solid. One restaurant hostess told me that she was just fortunate that she still had a job and that her income did not depend on tips. Obviously, many waiters aren’t as lucky.
My firsthand observations are borne out by the statistics. Job losses in the United States totaled 1.9 million in the first 11 months of this year, with a loss of over 530,000 jobs in November, the largest single-month job loss since 1974. The U.S. National Bureau of Economic Research recently announced that the U.S. has been in a recession since December, 2007.
I can only hope that Canada — which did not have the subprime real estate fiasco and whose banks are still in the black — will be better able to manage the economic storm. It would make the spring homecoming that much warmer.
A condo that would have sold readily for around $100,000 in the hot market about a year ago can’t find a buyer today at $65,000. Many stores I frequented last year are simply gone today. The place where I used to buy freshly baked bagels is closed and the space is for rent. Two of the craft shops where I used to buy yarn for my knitting are out of business. Same goes for the local Office Max — the chain has gone bankrupt.
Even though it is high season here (thanks to the snowbirds), my husband and I are having no trouble making reservations in restaurants that used to be booked solid. One restaurant hostess told me that she was just fortunate that she still had a job and that her income did not depend on tips. Obviously, many waiters aren’t as lucky.
My firsthand observations are borne out by the statistics. Job losses in the United States totaled 1.9 million in the first 11 months of this year, with a loss of over 530,000 jobs in November, the largest single-month job loss since 1974. The U.S. National Bureau of Economic Research recently announced that the U.S. has been in a recession since December, 2007.
I can only hope that Canada — which did not have the subprime real estate fiasco and whose banks are still in the black — will be better able to manage the economic storm. It would make the spring homecoming that much warmer.
posted by Professor Sal at 7:05 AM
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