The Job Market

[tim114]

I have been retired for a number of years. As such, I have not been in contact with as many people as I used to be. So I would like to ask the Forum members some questions. How do you see the job market where you are? Are jobs being created or not? And if jobs are being created, are they living-wage jobs?

Tim

 

[RayJ3MD]

It's sad

Jobs in Maryland are horrid. Where I live is primarily agrarian and someone is busing in migrant workers who are working to pay off debt at less than minimum wage to their employer. It is sad since they are illegal and not just from Mexico. House forclosures are horrendous.

 

[jtdestin]

In Florida the job market is about a persent worse than the national average. 11%

 

[frodo_83]

Here is Country Oz the job market is quite good. Don't know the actual stats but our unemployment rate is quite low. There are a couple of large employers here and currently the biggest employer in the region is the mining industry which has hit a boom recently.

 

[tampa24]

In Florida the job market is about a percent worse than the national average. 11%

The Tampa/St. Pete job market has not been good at all. At least not statistically. The unemployment rate hit over 13% a while back. It is now still in the 12% range. We are very dependent on tourism. When people can't afford to come down here the overall local economy suffers.

It's still a great place to live though. If I had to chose between being unemployed in Michigan or being unemployed here...well, that's a no brainer.

 

[jtdestin]

The Tampa/St. Pete job market has not been good at all. At least not statistically. The unemployment rate hit over 13% a while back. It is now still in the 12% range. We are very dependent on tourism. When people can't afford to come down here the overall local economy suffers.

It's still a great place to live though. If I had to chose between being unemployed in Michigan or being unemployed here...well, that's a no brainer.

Here here I got to agree with that Tampa I always say a bad day in Florida is better than a good day anyother place!
jt

 

[Yankee2010]

Here in Alberta, Canada, the unemployment rate is sitting @ 5.9%. The Canadian national average is 7.6%. Before the economic meltdown of 2008, The unemployment rate was 4%. Canada did not suffer the same sub-prime meltdown that hit the US. The economy where I live is booming thanks to the oil and gas industry. The Canadian dollar now trades above the American dollar when 10 years ago, the exchange was
$CDN 1.50 = $US 1.00

The minimum wage is due to increase to $9.40/hour in September 2011 from the current $8.80/hour.

 

[tim114]

The American economy got more bad news today and the stork market lost over 2% of its value. I am not looking to profit from all of this, but looking to protect what I have. I don't trust the stock market. However the Fed has kept the interest rate so low for so long to help the banks that I can't get 2% on anything I consider safe. We may be heading for a double dip-recession. I think the government has run out of options. It has done what it usually does, but without the usual result. Maybe the hole we dug ourselves into is bigger than we thought.

Tim

 

[angelone]

For those of us who saved during those "good old days" and put our monies in the mattress instead of the banks and stock markets, we are sitting pretty goood. I could weather out this recession or depression (depending whether you have a job or not) until things get better. I'm not working but I'm not worried. I could even work for less just until something better comes along. I could only do this because I saved 15 percent of my pay when times were good and I don't do credit cards.

 

[tim114]

Angelone,

I think you are going to have a lot of people in this country following your lead.

Tim

 

[gremlin2k08]

The truly sad thing here is that people are going to follow that, but panicking will only make things worse on yourself and those around you. I believe it was best said by one of the greatest presidents in American history "you have nothing to fear, BUT fear itself." It is a ripple effect. The initial catalyst and the FEAR of losing everything. We see a loss so everyone runs and pulls out which only serves to cuase another fall. This is far from the first recession our country has faced and it will most certainly not be the last. The biggest key is to remain calm in everything. And i know from experience that is a very difficult thing to follow. We didnt get into this overnight and we wont be out of it overnight either. I truly feel the economy will stabalize and things will get better. In truth, NOW is prime for the youth to be investing while the rates are lower than they have been in YEARS.

 

[juanjo]

I had a talk recently with a couple of friends who do employment law. It should come as no surprise that employment law tends to lead the employment trends by around 4 to 6 months. When the economy was about to tank, new claims dropped off significantly in that field as employees tend to draw in their heads and wait for better times since they are afraid that if they do anything they will not be able to get a new job.

So the end result is that they saw the economic meltdown coming on about 6 months before it was in the media. They are now becoming extremely busy with people contacting them with various issues.

I have also noted in my own work that my ability to travel is becoming more difficult again. There is a lot more business travel this year than there has been in the past 3 years. It is getting harder to hop on a plane and head off on a business trip. Similarly the hotels that tend to cater to business travelers are also experiencing higher bookings so it is not as easy to get a room unless the trip is booked well in advance.

I have also noted in a less scientific survey but an equally telling one, I am doing a lot more writs and appeals for people busted for DUI and who have lost their driving privileges due to the DMV administrative procedures. These are professionals and they are willing to spend the 4 to 5 thousand it takes to do an administrative appeal. They also were willing to spend on experts to contest their criminal charges, typically the validity of the chemical test sued to prove they were .08% or higher in blood alcohol. It may come as a shock to some people to find that some of those machines used to test blood alcohol are notoriously inaccurate either due to software glitches with the newer ones or because of improper maintenance for the older ones. In fact Santa Clara county here in the Bay Area which is notorious for being very vigorous in prosecuting DUI's was forced to dismiss some 800 cases recently because the machines being used to determine blood alcohol were testing as high a 2 percentage points than what the correct test result was.

 

[tim114]

Juanjo,

I am having some trouble with this post. Paragraphs 1 and 2, I sort of get.

I am not sure what Paragraph 3 means as it relates to the Job Market.

And Paragraph 4 is a whole other topic.

My guess is you had a long day. Please stay with us. We will need you for the Tyler Clementi Case.

Tim

 

[tampa24]

I think Paragraph 3 is pretty self explanatory. He's saying that the economy is showing telltale signs of picking up again. Which means the job market is not far behind if current trends hold. Business travel is picking up again. Companies are willing to spend the money to send their employees off on expensive overnight stays. Because they have decided that there is more money to be made out there again.

The one problem we've had with this recovery so to speak is that even though we have avoided a double dip recession in technical terms...at least 2 straight quarters of decline in GDP...the economy hasn't gained enough steam to put a real dent in the jobless rate. We've heard warnings that this past recession and current "recovery" will not be like ones of the past. For instance are we going to be forced to accept an unemployment rate of 8% or more and call it a success?

 

[juanjo]

Juanjo,

I am having some trouble with this post. Paragraphs 1 and 2, I sort of get.

I am not sure what Paragraph 3 means as it relates to the Job Market.

And Paragraph 4 is a whole other topic.

My guess is you had a long day. Please stay with us. We will need you for the Tyler Clementi Case.

Tim

Well Tim, as someone else said, I have noticed a definite pick up in business travel. Companies cut back severely during the recession on this type of travel. Business travel is generally much more expensive because by its very nature it is hard to predict and plan far enough ahead to take advantage of booking far in advance. So companies often pay full fare on flights and hotels.

The less scientific DUI poll I was referring to is that people are now willing to put out 3500 to 5000 dollars to file a writ on a DMV suspension of their license. This was not as true last year or the year before. Then it was really only people with commercial licenses for whom a suspension was catastrophic who were likely to pay for a writ. People were a lot more cautious about how they spent their money. Now it is people for whom it would not result in a complete loss of livelihood but would be exceptionally inconvenient to face a 4 month suspension of their driving privilege. Many of these folks are professionals.

 

[tim114]

Juanjo,

Thanks for clarifying that last paragraph as it relates to the economy. As for your observations of travel, I sort of missed the point - my fault.

As for the Tyler Clementi Case, do you think the defense lawyer is going to file motions to get rid of some of the 15 counts against Dharun Ravi prior to their June 25th meeting with the court. Or is he going to wait to do it at the meeting. During the Duke Rape Case, defense lawyers were filing motions all the time.

Tim

 

[juanjo]

"As for the Tyler Clementi Case, do you think the defense lawyer is going to file motions to get rid of some of the 15 counts against Dharun Ravi prior to their June 25th meeting with the court. Or is he going to wait to do it at the meeting. During the Duke Rape Case, defense lawyers were filing motions all the time."

Different lawyers employ different strategies when it comes to things of this nature. I would expect the lawyer to employ a strategy of demurrer, motion to dismiss as well as motions to suppress evidence to narrow down the prosecution case. I do not have access to the police reports, witness statements and the like in this matter obviously so it is difficult to say exactly what he will do or when. But at a minimum he will try to exclude any theories supported by shaky evidence, knock out as much of the other evidence as he can and probably try to negotiate for a reduced sentence to a lessor charge. This is why prosecutors overcharge cases, so they have something to dump in the negotiations.

The Duke case had serious problems not the least of which was a prosecutor who was lying through his teeth so I would not use that case as a model. There seems to be little doubt that the actual event happened.

 

[tim114]

Juanjo,

Thanks for your input.

Tim