So, if the LA Times has it right, Christmas shopping is inching back up, and it's been a good year for investors after all -- all that value recovered -- , and housing prices have even levelled off. So why am I not shouting with joy?
Consider "Jessica," a veteran career counselor and business owner. Over this past year of endless sorrows, she's helped 52 professionals find new jobs paying over $100,000 a year, so you'd think she of all people would be optimistic. Here's her take on the job-hunting situation: "You've got to be careful with people who are unemployed; some of them are so needy that they suck you dry. I've seen marriages fall apart before my eyes. One of my clients used to be a world traveller and wealthy housewife-- after her husband lost his job they had to sell everything they owned, then they split up, and now she's living in a granny apartment in back of her mother's bungalow."
I've conducted in-depth interviews with eight unemployed people in the L.A. area in the six weeks since this pitch was first posted. Media coverage of the economy has been cautiously optimistic. The unemployment figures have stopped growing; health care reform is closer to passing, and the Obama administration has sketched out a policy for the war in Afghanistan. And yet, there are still more than 200,000 unemployed people in the city of Los Angeles, and in December, laid-off workers in this city, particularly in service and construction industries, filed more than 7300 new claims.
Posted by Christopher Davidson on 01/01/10
