I know that one buddy has been looking constantly
for a job, any job, that pays more than 17.50/hr. He made 75k doing the same thing two years ago. His case isn't isolated, either. Two other of my other buddies are in the same straights.
I have 2 friends looking for work that would take a big pay cut, but still can't find jobs.
A friend's wife NEEDS the money her job provides, and will do anything her job says, bad or not, stupid or not, abusive or not - because she hasn't seen anything that she's qualified for that pays more than 1/2 what she earns now.
Let's see - I'm way better than I was 2 years ago, I'm paying off some longstanding debts, but I had to leave my family and friends to get work (granted, I'm probably over-specialized) but - let's just say I did not enjoy being uprooted. The datapoints that I've seen directly, those do NOT point to economic good news.
I haven't heard anything from anybody down here that things are getting better.
No Bill, I'll stick with what I actually see and hear. Am I a statistical sample that an economist can use? Of course not. From where I sit, things are NOT getting better, so quoting reports that say they are better is like quoting from the MS 'Linux Reference Center' to me.
*note - of the people I talk about above, only 1 has an IT-related job.
