Norfolk Southern recently started hiring, Liebherr has had an increase in heavy truck orders from 26 last year to 38 this year and hiring people for several fields ( just toured the facility last week and saw the new model they havent listed yet including design changes that will blow CAT and Terrex out of the water ), Northrup Grumman and BAE Systems are hiring larger numbers of people. What signs of recovery are you seeing where your at?

None.

Half of the street lights are being turned off.

No water for grass in the parks, no mowing, they took the trash cans out, so they wouldn't have to collect. Restrooms were closed last summer.

Layoffs of city employees.

The police helicopters are for sale on the Internet. The city is dumping firefighting jobs, a vice team, burglary investigators, beat cops — dozens of police and fire positions will go unfilled. The parks department removed trash cans last week, replacing them with signs urging users to pack out their own litter. Neighbors are encouraged to bring their own lawn mowers to local green spaces, because parks workers will mow them only once every two weeks. If that. Water cutbacks mean most parks will be dead, brown turf by July; the flower and fertilizer budget is zero. City recreation centers, indoor and outdoor pools, and a handful of museums will close for good March 31 unless they find private funding to stay open. Buses no longer run on evenings and weekends. The city won't pay for any street paving, relying instead on a regional authority that can meet only about 10 percent of the need.


Oh, you mean private sector..........fuhgeddaboudit!

All the people I know that have been out of work for months, and months still don't have jobs.

Can't get customers to pay their bills. Can't get new projects, or commence work authorization on jobs already awarded. Same with our competitors -at least, the ones still in business.

It's beginning to look worse, not better. I'm beginning to really get concerned.

We have not seen bottom yet. This small "bright spot" is merely the eye of the storm. Lying ahead are hyperiinflation and/or collapse of the dollar. Then we're all in deep dookey...

nothing here.

some places are turning into ghost towns due to the large amount of foreclosures. everyone is still cutting back. went out for lunch and the places i always went to are really changing the way they prepare their food to cut back there losses. just makes it worse since now i won't be going back to a place i went for years.
on the highways the lights are being turned off and i'm finding less and less employees at stores to take care of customers. my company has never been worse. so i have yet to see any improvement in this area or even 50-60 miles either north or south from here.very sad.very depressing.

Getting worse in the Detroit area.

It will be interesting to see what the census is in my area compared to 2000. I suspect a big loss with plant and mill closings.

Can't get customers to pay their bills. Can't get new projects, or commence work authorization on jobs already awarded. Same with our competitors -at least, the ones still in business.

It's beginning to look worse, not better. I'm beginning to really get concerned.

You're just now beginning to really get concerned ?
That happened to most people about a year ago.

Getting worse in the Detroit area.

I don't think its getting worse. I will say that it hasn't really improved much from rock bottom of last year. Pretty much everybody I know works and the real estate market is not as bad as the media makes it out to be from my personal house shopping experience. Foreclosures tend to be junk and homes that are half off, have ridiculous taxes that nobody can afford.

I don't think its getting worse. I will say that it hasn't really improved much from rock bottom of last year. Pretty much everybody I know works and the real estate market is not as bad as the media makes it out to be from my personal house shopping experience. Foreclosures tend to be junk and homes that are half off, have ridiculous taxes that nobody can afford.

My wife lost her job a month ago, now were both unemployed, and not having any luck finding work.

My wife lost her job a month ago, now were both unemployed, and not having any luck finding work.
Whats yours and hers specialties Paul? Honestly if you don't mind moving I would look here in the Virginia Beach area as well as Lincoln Nebraska or Grand Forks North Dakota due to both those places having the lowest unemployment in the nation at %4.0 and %4.1 respectfully.

My wife lost her job a month ago, now were both unemployed, and not having any luck finding work.

How broad is your search? Are you not able to find a job, or not able to find a job that you want to do? I've had several friends who have been laid off over the past 1.5 years, but each has gotten back to work in no more than 3 weeks. Some have taken better jobs than they had before, others have taken a step down, but they were back to work. A couple have even changed cities. If you want to work hard enough there is work out there. You just have to be willing to make a change (location, income, type of job) to find one right now.

If you want to work hard enough there is work out there. You just have to be willing to make a change (location, income, type of job) to find one right now.

Sounds easy, but not really true.

Are you currently retired lakebum ?

Maybe some unemployed people don't want to or can't afford to just move to a new city or state right now.

Maybe some people can't change their income and still pay their house payments, car payments, family expenses.

I'm sure a person that was earning $100K/year in their specific field of interest could probably get a job working at walmart stocking shelves, or at tacobell saying - Do you want nachos with that? just to have a job right now, but they probably couldn't pay their bills.

I got real lucky here. The company I work for got bought by IBM. Austin is also doing reasonably well, if you are in Tech.

Well, it took me 4 months to find a new job. Embedded firmware designer with aircraft design certifications. However, I attribute a lot of that to being laid off at the start of the holidays. Nothing for three months and then suddenly my choice of several offers al in the same week. In tech, you learn to be ready to move as you are looking at a small number of companies spread all over the country. The exception may be if you are near DC or the Bay Area.

I came very close to coming out to visit Scott with an offer in Windsor Locks, CT, but the Milwaukee one was a better fit for family.

Sounds easy, but not really true.

Are you currently retired lakebum ?

Maybe some unemployed people don't want to or can't afford to just move to a new city or state right now.

Maybe some people can't change their income and still pay their house payments, car payments, family expenses.

I'm sure a person that was earning $100K/year in their specific field of interest could probably get a job working at walmart stocking shelves, or at tacobell saying - Do you want nachos with that? just to have a job right now, but they probably couldn't pay their bills.

No, not retired at all.

You say people don't want to or can't affor to just move. If they don't want to then they aren't looking at all options to find a new job. You say they can't afford to, I say they can't afford not to consider it.

Your logic doesn't make much sense. You say that people can't change their income and still pay their bills, but how are they paying their bills without a job? Unemployement is not much. Almost any job is better than that...

Your several friends that have been laid off over the past 1.5 years but got back to work within 3 weeks is great, but that's not the norm, and it also doesn't mean anyone that can't get a new job within 3 weeks isn't trying hard enough.

In most cases if it's a really good job someone is applying for it takes more than 3 weeks to decide whom the company wants to interview, conduct the interviews and make the decision about which person to offer the job to.

I never said you had to do it in less than 3 weeks to be "trying hard enough". What I shared was my friends' personal experiences. I am a 100% beliver in collecting unemployment as long as it is used for what it is intended (a short term solution to get you through a BRIEF period of time between jobs). I am 100% against the moochers that sit on it instead of working for a living like the rest of us.

...In most cases if it's a really good job someone is applying for it takes more than 3 weeks to decide whom the company wants to interview, conduct the interviews and make the decision about which person to offer the job to.So in the meantime they stock shelves at Wal*Mart to help make ends meet. And a perspective employer with a good job to offer will look very favorably on that. They see someone who is not afraid to face adversity and do whatever they can to mitigate the circumstances rather than depending completely on someone else for their subsistance.

I agree with lakebum. Unemployment compensation is there to offer a hand up, not a hand out. There should be no shame in taking it for the intended purpose. After all, we've all paid into that fund with our tax dollars. But all the while the recipient should be doing everything (s)he can to not be solely dependent on that money.

In the current economic climate the $100K jobs are increasingly scarce and only the most qualified will get them. In many cases that will be someone who is willing to relocate. Many of us (myself included) have taken significant pay cuts to remain employed and not dependent on others. That's a matter of choice. And in the meantime we continue looking for something more viable.

As for me, I have been laid off twice during my career once for almost 18 months (half of which time I was in grad school). I never took a dime of unemployment. Instead I worked as many hours as I could for a contractor making about $10 an hour. Again, a matter of choice and in my case a sense of personal pride. I'm not trying to prove anything by that, other than to hint that I didn't really NEED that money at the time and chose to leave it there for someone else more needy than me. If I had been laid off longer the situation might have been different, but as it was I had enough reserves to weather a somewhat extended period of substantially reduced income. Hopefully this current economic situation will lead others to think about the imperative of setting more aside for the proverbial rainy day. At some point the UC funds are going to run out and the gov't. won't be able to borrow any more to continue to meet the demand. Where will you be then...?

I got real lucky here. The company I work for got bought by IBM. Austin is also doing reasonably well, if you are in Tech.Luck is part of it. You also have/maintain the skills to be employable in what today is a dynamic and viable field and I think that is a lot more important...

So in the meantime they stock shelves at Wal*Mart to help make ends meet. And a perspective employer with a good job to offer will look very favorably on that. They see someone who is not afraid to face adversity and do whatever they can to mitigate the circumstances rather than depending completely on someone else for their subsistance.
Sorry, but I must disagree some. Although there are cases where this logic might apply, many of the people here are highly trained technical folks. It would be irresponsible to take a minimum wage job if it jeopardized finding a job that utilized your skills. I have just been hired, after being unemployed for the last four months. However, that doesn't mean I was sitting around on my butt waiting for someone to give me something. I had a full time job in finding the best job available. I tuned my resume daily. I applied for over 100 positions. I actively contacted dozens of recruiters. For the job I eventually accepted, I contacted the HR person several times and got the process moving again when it had stalled on someones desk.

If I had taken some minimum wage clerk's job, I would not have been available to do this important job of finding a position that paid 8 times as much. I probably would have eventually found another engineering position, but I figure it would have been a $50-60k position instead of the six figure position I eventually landed.



I agree with lakebum. Unemployment compensation is there to offer a hand up, not a hand out. There should be no shame in taking it for the intended purpose. After all, we've all paid into that fund with our tax dollars. But all the while the recipient should be doing everything (s)he can to not be solely dependent on that money.
I disagree here as well. Unemployment is not a normal tax. It is a tax that employers pay against the salary of the employee for exactly this purpose. Every time an employer has given me a sheet showing all of my benefits, the amount that was paid in unemployment was included. Basically, the unemployment is an insurance policy that the employer takes out. Not taking unemployment benefits is analogous with not submitting medical claims when you have health insurance. You have indirectly paid into the system for just this purpose.

When I was grossly underemployed I split my time between finding a new job (which I agree should occupy a large percentage of one's time) and working about 30 hrs a week to help keep my sanity and pay bills. My choice. I had out-of-the-area offers that were slightly better than what I have now, but with the accompanying costs of relocation. It was my choice to take this current position about 6 years ago at a lower salary and not have to uproot my (then) teenager and older one still in local college living at home. Since then nothing better has opened up in this area (in fact many more jobs have been lost) and I have still not looked outside. Late career complacency I guess. Again, my choice.

How to divide one's time in any case is still a gamble. You can forego all income but the UC and focus on the search, hoping you find something before the benefits run out. Or you can cushion that some and do both (search and work). Individual situation dependent.

In THIS state an employee pays into the UC fund, albeit a lot less than the employer's share. Might be true in other states as well. Regardless, any time an employer pays a tax on behalf of an employee, it's that much less that he could (not saying should or would) be paying that employee. Not participating in the available bounty was my decision for reasons I stated, but that also delayed available funds. I don't chastise anyone who decides differently. But I do have some issue with those who milk the system...

While not always the case when a company lays people off they tend to get rid of the pain in the butt employees. That's why I go out of my way to be nice to everyone. I work about 15 hours a day but, I'm still working. Now I doing the work of two employees.

Along the lines of "No good deed goes unpunished." and/or "Do a good job once and it's yours forever!"...!

Your philosophy is well founded. I tell my heirs and assigns "You work for the convenience of your employer." When you're no longer convenient to have around - for any number of reasons - you become disposable. It's incumbent on every employee to continuously provide evidence of value added in excess of his costs if he plans to be around for the long haul. "What have you done for me lately?", whether fair or not, is a valid question in the workplace...

Having been unemployed before it became fashionable I looked for a month for work both in my field and related and non related fields and during that time of pounding asphalt 6 days a week and searching online as well as through the department of labor I found two jobs. One was selling life insurance door to door and the other was a bottom of the barrel contract cable install job. I wasn't able to get unemployment and state assistance wouldn't cover more than %55 of my rent and that left utilities plus food plus insurance ect ect ect to be paid. The cable job would have covered rent and one utility and a weeks worth of groceries so I opted to leave town and sold off three cars and gave away a huge amount of personal items that still irks me to this day but I had to do it in order to care for my family.

So its been four years and I've taken on a few jobs that I wouldn't normally take on and now find myself making %140 below the federal poverty level while working full time and going to school full time all while caring for my family and taking care of my father and his house and had it not been for my tax return that I just got back we would be struggling even worse due to some bills and a vehicle issue. If your out of work then you have to look beyond your field as well as your field and be willing to do what ever it takes legally to care for your family regardless of whether the work is demeaning or not.

It looks like I'm fortunate enough to be in an area where the work is still there to be had but its not what it was a year and half ago when I started looking here so hopefully things will stay as stable as they are here but so far we have lost four large factories and Norfolk city council is dragging its heals on approving a wind turbine company to purchase a closed Ford assembly plant so that they can begin building wind turbines for an off shore wind farm.

I honestly laugh at people with their personal pride bs and how they are ashamed to collect unemployment. Lets see... sit at home and make $350 a week or work 40 hours at Walmart and make less. Tough choice LOL. You guys need to use common sense.

If you get laid off or fired and you qualify for unemployment pay you should take it, that's what it's there for.

I'm not saying you should collect unemployment money and sit home waiting for the phone to ring with a job offer or go fishin' or snowmobilin' every day like some people do.

You still need to be looking for a new job every day.

I honestly laugh at people with their personal pride bs and how they are ashamed to collect unemployment. Lets see... sit at home and make $350 a week or work 40 hours at Walmart and make less. Tough choice LOL. You guys need to use common sense.


Well . I've never collected it but it's not that easy is it? Don't you have to be out looking for work and have companies sign something saying you asked them for a job?

Not in California. You just need to state that you have looked and maybe say where. Nobody needs to sign anything.

Not in California. You just need to state that you have looked and maybe say where. Nobody needs to sign anything.

Same in Illinois. Just need to save the applications and produce them when asked. They never ask. Also, I am getting more like $580/week as a single father with two minor kids.

At that money, a minimum wage job is out of the question. Fortunately, I found a new job that was only 70 miles away and actually where I wanted to live. I also waited a few weeks for applying (stupid) so I only collected about 8 weeks worth before starting new job.

Not in California. You just need to state that you have looked and maybe say where. Nobody needs to sign anything.
Well, That I do have a problem with. We were not put on this planet to sit on our butts. I can only imagine the fraud .

Well, That I do have a problem with. We were not put on this planet to sit on our butts. I can only imagine the fraud .

I think it is a cost vs benefit thing. If you require certification, you must hire people to certify. Then the same people start complaining about government waste on unnecessary social service jobs. The self certification and record keeping is sufficient evidence to prosecute if fraud is reported.

Not in California. You just need to state that you have looked and maybe say where. Nobody needs to sign anything.

A friend of mine said it was the same for for him. He had to go to the state unemployment website every monday, answer 6 questions, got direct deposit 2 days later. He did have to go in once and discuss his job search. He brought his updated resume, talked about how he searches for work, what jobs he recently applied for. Only took about a half hour. The way things are now you can't be expected to list 3 jobs opening in your field you applied for each week. You can't even find 3 walmart type job openings to apply for each week.

Tried once to collect after dish canned me but they refused it and the state did and waiting a two months to have an informal court hearing over it was not feasible.

Really the only time where I have been without work more than two days was when I was canned by dish, any other time I have been able to find work within 3 days max.

I've noticed a lot more cars on the road on my way to and from work in Michigan. I really think its starting to improve.

I've noticed a lot more cars on the road on my way to and from work in Michigan. I really think its starting to improve.
People fleeing the state.

I've noticed a lot more cars on the road on my way to and from work in Michigan. I really think its starting to improve.

The more cars on the road might also have been people going to the unemployment office to apply for unemployment pay in person, going to resume writing seminars, interviewing seminars, using the unemployment office computers to do job seaches, or going to the casino.

At 7 am and at 4 pm? I doubt it. Rush Hour is actually busier.

Norfolk Southern recently started hiring, Liebherr has had an increase in heavy truck orders from 26 last year to 38 this year and hiring people for several fields ( just toured the facility last week and saw the new model they havent listed yet including design changes that will blow CAT and Terrex out of the water ), Northrup Grumman and BAE Systems are hiring larger numbers of people. What signs of recovery are you seeing where your at?
Most of those Northrop Gruman employees are going to end up getting laid off. More state layoffs coming here as well as on the City level. We are preparing for the 3rd round of them here.

Ok maybe I wasn't seeing things. I read in the newspaper that Michigan had a job growth of 11000 jobs in January. That was the first job growth in years. We are turning it around slowly.

Ok maybe I wasn't seeing things. I read in the newspaper that Michigan had a job growth of 11000 jobs in January. That was the first job growth in years. We are turning it around slowly.
Yeah but where was the job growth?

Well, business is finally picking up for us, but collections are a bear.

We've got a new commercial location opening in a nearby city but much of the 3000 jobs are retail which equals low income.

Yeah but where was the job growth?

Manufacturing

That's what I was expecting but in what manufacturing sector is the question. If its auto then those jobs could be workers that were laid off and brought back in to work but not just within the big three but also their suppliers.