<p>[Hiring</a> Up Modestly, Jobless Rate Steady: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance](<a href=“Yahoo Finance - Stock Market Live, Quotes, Business & Finance News”>Yahoo Finance - Stock Market Live, Quotes, Business & Finance News)</p>
<p>Except in MA, which ranks 49th in job creation, nationwide:</p>
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<p>Yes, sucks to be in an overtaxed over regulated state. Move on out to Seattle. It’s booming.</p>
<p>[Looks like a good time to buy anyway- or maybe wait a little-](<a href=“http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/342543_housing07.html”>http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/342543_housing07.html</a>)
Or else you could be like my brother who is watching his house depreciate tens of thousands from what he paid for it last year.</p>
<p>just wait until the foreclsures hit, and its not just the people who are losing their homes that will be in trouble</p>
<p>much of FLorida’s school $ is invested in subprime</p>
<p>and barrons, its swell you are doing so well, good thing you can ignore the homeless, the out of work, the people doing 2 jobs</p>
<p>and what kinds of jobs are they…</p>
<p>and one BIG reason the economy looks "booming’ is the price of gas…how much $ is spent on gas…but its okay barrons, you can have faith…the rest of us see the reality</p>
<p>I heard the term “lay-off” mentioned in our group for the first time. It has not laid off anybody for a long time. So of course housing in this area will be affected. Our company was hiring like a gang buster in 2002-2004, which coincided with the housing boom.</p>
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Of course, this isn’t the whole story.</p>
<p>[Report:</a> Mass. at an economic crossroads - Boston.com](<a href=“http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2007/11/28/report_massachusetts_at_an_economic_crossroads/]Report:”>http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2007/11/28/report_massachusetts_at_an_economic_crossroads/)</p>
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<p>[2007</a> massachusetts economy - Google Search](<a href=“2007 massachusetts economy]2007 - Google Search”>2007 massachusetts economy - Google Search)</p>
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<p>If you are a blue collar worker, the economy in Massachusetts may not seem that great – if you are a knowledge worker, it’s outstanding.</p>
<p>By the way, have any of you been to the mall lately? I’ve been to our local mall a couple of times in this last week. Each time, during standard business hours (when you’d expect most people would be a the office) I struggled to find parking. The lots are just filled, with late model cars, many of which are luxury models. The aisles in the stores are packed, and just walking around is difficult. The lines at the register are often 7 or 8 deep, so people are buying. If the economy is so bad, why are so many people spending money at the mall?</p>
<p>There is another thread that talks about the Alternative Minimum Tax, and it’s impact on people this year. As I understand it, the AMT affects mostly people who earn more than $100k per year, and especially those who earn more than $200k. If this economy is so bad, why are people worried about the AMT?</p>
<p>What about the threads about buying new cars? The talk is usually about expensive cars, BMWs, Lexus, Infiniti etc. Is CC such an aberration?</p>
<p>I do think CC is an aberration.</p>
<p>The only time I go to the mall recently is to go to the Apple store to have them look at my computer- but I agree malls are often busy- although it seems much easier to find a parking place than it used to be.</p>
<p>But for instance when my D was a baby we went to the mall for exercise ( nice big area to walk- big climber tugboat for kids to play on) not to spend money.
Teens also use malls as social areas- groups of them can spend lots of time there looking around, ( and not whats in the stores 
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Some bookstores like Barnes and Nobles, have tables and chairs and don’t seem to mind people using it as a library- the one by the UW often has studying going on.
In areas with inclement weather especially, they are social areas & it is also fun to see the holiday decorations.
( of course if holiday music drives you insane as it does me, you are probably staying far, far away)</p>
<p>That may be true, EK, but I pointed out that people in the stores I’ve been in lately are BUYING, not just looking or walking. The lines are long, it’s impossible to get certain videogame systems and HDTVs have been cleared off the shelves. In some cases, I’ve observed people buying multiple HDTVs. Whatever our personal circumstances may be, this economy IS humming along, and seems to be absorbing the housing issues pretty well.</p>
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<p>If you think looking at your local mall and seeing how the crowds are a relevant or scientific way of looking at the strength of economy you’re gonna have a few surprises comming to you in life.</p>
<p>Unemployment may not be a problem right now, but underemployment and income inequality have widened to levels not seen in the last 40 years . Real wages have declined for the bottom 1/2 once you factor in inflation. The have’s are just doing that well, that’s why the mall is busy. The middle class and the lower class is struggling. The credit and mortagage crisis is only going to make it worse and we only know the free-market fundementalists in power won’t do anything about it. Or maybe they will, maybe they’ll somehow manage to justify a corporate handout.</p>
<p>Psst, Barrons. Keep it down why don’t ya?! Not everybody needs to know how strong and well rounded economically the SOGGY, WET AND GREY PNW seems to be these days! (Knocking on wood as I whisper this.)</p>
<p>For the SjMOm and barrons crowd who have
“mall data” ROFL</p>
<p>[Image:United</a> States Income Distribution 1967-2003.svg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:United_States_Income_Distribution_1967-2003.svg]Image:United”>File:United States Income Distribution 1967-2003.svg - Wikipedia)</p>
![http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:United_States_Income_Distribution_1967-2003.svg]Image:United](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:United_States_Income_Distribution_1967-2003.svg%5DImage:United){kind=link}
<p>The rich get richer , while the poor stay poor. And believe me Allan Greenspan is hardly some teary -eyed lib and look what he said. As of 2006, the United States had one of the highest levels of income inequality, as measured through the Gini index, among high income countries, comparable to that of some middle income countries such as Russia or Turkey.</p>
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<p>gottaloveucla, my post was primarily intended to offer a different version of the Massachusetts economy. The data show that this economy is changing, and that it is becoming more knowledge based.</p>
<p>CNN today quoted a national unemployment rate of 4.7%, one of the lowest in my 48 years. I’m going to guess you are a student – when I was in college, the job prospects were not that great. The unemployment rate around 1980 was between 7 and 8%. That’s a significant difference, one that you will notice when you graduate. The first property that H and I bought came at an interest rate of 13% – can you imagine making those payments? Even with the current subprime problems, you can find a 30 year mortgage for somewhere in the 6% range. </p>
<p>It’s kind of you to offer a different view, but I’ve been observing this economy for a pretty long time, as I’m sure Barrons has been. There are many ways to interpret income/wealth statistics, depending on the point you are trying to make.</p>
<p>As I said on another thread, if this economy is bad, I hope it just gets worse.</p>
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<p>[Townhall.com::Despite</a> the Gloom, More Bush Boom ::By Lawrence Kudlow](<a href=“http://www.townhall.com/columnists/LawrenceKudlow/2007/11/01/despite_the_gloom,_more_bush_boom]Townhall.com::Despite”>http://www.townhall.com/columnists/LawrenceKudlow/2007/11/01/despite_the_gloom,_more_bush_boom)</p>
<p>Wow. Larry Kudlow. I like his show; although, he talks too much. He wants a 50 basis rate cut in the fed funds rate and he wants a cut in the discount rate too. Why would we need a 50 basis point rate cut if the economy was so good? You don’t usually cut rates when economies are strong.</p>
<p>Is there a correlation between low unemployment rates and income distribution? I agree we have low unemployment rates. We also have a very skewed income distribution. The top 300,000 in income make the same as the bottom 150 million.</p>
<p>I can see why the top 300,000 aren’t gloomy. (That’s the top .2 to .3% of American households by the way). That’s a large part of Kudlow’s audience. Only around 100,000 households watch his show a day, out of over a hundred million households.</p>
<p>Let’s see why Americans are gloomy. They have made very little real income improvements in over 25 years. They haven’t saved enough for retirement. Health care costs are through the roof. Globalization is hurting their incomes. The price of oil is over $90. We are going to spend over 1 trillion dollars in a war against a country that did not really have the capacity to threaten us.
Americans number one asset is decreasing in value. They are in debt up to their eyeballs. Politicians don’t represent their interests. People get their ideas about the strength of the economy from people like Larry Kudlow, who hasn’t talked to a person that makes under $100,000 for 20 years unless that person asks, “Would you like to see the dessert menu?”</p>
<p>I’m using inflation adjusted numbers of course. ;)</p>
<p>Dstark, why such doom and gloom? Don’t you know that rising tides lift all boats? </p>
<p>:p</p>
<p>Ya we should trust Townhall, a notorious right wing echo chamber.</p>
<p>Allmusic, I know. Economically, I have been doom and gloom for a long time. I see the middle class slowly getting destroyed. Our politicians on both sides of the aisle are bought off by corporate interests. We have way too much leverage in the system. The amount a person can borrow is now considered cash. :eek: We are transferring our wealth to the middle east and China. And I am so sick of listening to the lies by pundits, and so-called economic experts. Most are just great bs artists. I am so sick of people telling us how great things are economically when what we did was borrow ourselves to prosperity and when the bills come due we are going to be in a mess.</p>
<p>We worship the wrong things in this country. CEOs and financial gurus. (Many aren’t that bright, many are incredibly selfish, and they are overpaid.) </p>
<p>I haven’t even posted my real gloom and doom stuff. :)</p>
<p>I am very positive that we are going to see amazing technological, medical, and scientific breakthroughs. There are a lot of brilliant people that are going to change the world for the better.</p>
<p>dstark,</p>
<p>Your last post sounded strangely like Japan. I remember reading an old op-ed in the Asahi Shimbun that basically said the same thing you did. Looks like it’s not just good old America that’s getting hit hard by a lot of these trends.</p>
<p>gottaloveucla,</p>
<p>If the numbers are right, they’re right. Just because it came from Townhall doesn’t necessarily make it wrong. It’s just as fallacious to discount it because it’s right wing as it is to believe it because of the opposite.</p>
<p>Of course, whether or not the numbers are accurate is a big IF.</p>
<p>Doom and gloom seems to be the dominant theme of the left in this country. Kluge, we’ve talked about the income distribution before – I’m not going to continue to argue. But I would ask all of you to evaluate your own situation – are you better off now than you were 10 or 20 years ago? We’re not in that top .2 or .3% that Kluge mentions. I’m not even sure where that is from an income point of view. But as a first generation American, I see the incredible improvements in the standard of living and the opportunities this country offers. </p>
<p>Compared to the 1970’s, when I was in college, this economy rocks. And if you are honest, you will admit that the rising tide has at least lifted your personal watercrafts.</p>