In the same week that very real layoffs at major companies dominated the news, here is the news you probably didn't see:
- The National Association of Realtors reported that December home sales posted the largest monthly gain in seven years. While one month does not signal a turnaround in the housing market, the sales of more homes, even at lower prices, will lead to work for mortgage brokers processing loans, contractors doing home improvements and retailers selling appliances, carpets, furniture and home furnishings, among others.
- Mutual funds reported that for the first time in many months more money was invested in funds than were withdrawn and not by a little amount. Nine (9) billion dollars more was invested than was withdrawn.
- No jobs available. Not exactly. Although there are many more people seeking work than there are available jobs at the moment, there are jobs out there. According to the most recent available statistics from the U.S. Department of Labor, there are 2.8 million job openings employers are seeking to fill.
- The IRS just announced it is seeking to hire hundreds of new tax collectors and auditors. And the US Customs agencies is actively holding job fairs in 15 cities to hire 11,000 new employees. If you happened to be at Kennedy airport yesterday you could have attended one.
By focusing only on the bad economic news, we run the risk of making the recession longer and deeper. People who have jobs will spend less, businesses will invest less and will layoff more employees and the government will use the bad news to justify spending that is neither stimulus nor the right prescription for what is really going on in the economy.
While we need a realistic approach to dealing with the actual problems in the economy, we also need to focus on the very real positive signs in the economy. I don't know why are politicians and reporters keep referring to this as the worst economy since the Great Depression. I am old enough to remember that in the late 70s we had double digit unemployment and double digit inflation. Interest rates on home mortgages was upward of 15%. The job market was a lot worse than it is now. We got through that and it was followed by the longest period of continuous economic growth since they began keeping records.
So perhaps a little more balanced reporting, a little cheerleading from our politicians (who have an incentive to make things look worse so they can avoid blame if the policies they elect to implement don't work) and a little more optimism might help us move quickly out of this recession and unleash the potential for us to prosper and grow our economy.
