Prime Rate Credit

Well, the May jobs report certainly didn’t help the already jittery economy, and it certainly isn’t infusing any confidence into CEO’s about the futures of the companies they helm, and more importantly, the blue and white collar workers that their companies employ. Many CEO’s are reporting they feel not so certain about the future of their company, at least not for the immediate horizon, because of a combination of factors that are going on right now that have the country on the verge of a long economic downturn - aka recession.

Those factors are the weak US dollar, which is at an all time low against the Euro and some other currencies, the fact that the housing market is in the dumps, and the rising gas and oil prices, squeezing consumers, which ultimately trickles down to the companies the provide consumer goods and services. We all suffer in a downturned economy, no matter what you offer or how you make a living.

Heck, just the other day, I saw that some developer in California is so desperate to unload properties that they are offering a buy one get one free sale. Talk about desperate times calling for desperate measures! I also recently read that there are some very high profile foreclosures looming, like Ed McMahon, due to poor financial planning, and Evander Holyfield.

Even Ted Koppel’s feeling the squeeze of housing, since he hasn’t been able to unload his multi million dollar home for three years. He reportedly had to drop the price of his home nearly half just to make it more appealing to buyers so he doesn’t have to keep paying on something he’s not living in.

Jobs are hopefully going to rebound, because the news, which was reported last Friday, already sent stocks plummeting, and are bound to send them plummeting further if the next round of news is bad for jobs as well. These sorts of reports also create a kind of hysteria amongst the population, making everyone hang on to their money even harder, and perhaps sending the country into a further and deeper recession. I like to take the Polyanna attitude on these things as you’ve read in the past, but this is looking like something that will not soon pass unfortunately.

The good thing is, the US economy is a resilient one, and we always bounce back, it’s just a question of how long this time - it may be one of the longer downturns in recent history, some are even saying akin to the depression, but of course not as severe thanks to safeguards put into place. We hope!