Walking Dogs and Talking Economic Recovery

I saw Nancy the other day. She’s the nice lady who lives down the street in the corner

house. We used to take the same bus into the city.

She was walking Elvis, a particularly hellacious little Maltese who barks incessantly at the sight of me. “Guess what?” she told me. “I got laid off in November.”

As I recall, she worked in the insurance industry, but I don’t know for which company. For now, she’s collecting unemployment and babysitting to pocket some extra cash. Nobody, she said, can live on unemployment alone. How true.

Sometimes when I jog I run into (not literally) Jeanine as she walks, Rocky, an adorable and much calmer little dachshund. His stumpy legs shiver in the cold. Yet he’s friendlier and lets me pet him.

Her company just hired another worker for her department. She says she knows I’m going to get a job soon. From her lips to God’s ears…

What to make of these divergent scenarios? One lady worked for a company that downsized her job; another for a company in expansion mode.

Which is true? Which is the false mirage?

As I scan the news sites daily, I come across so many contradictory articles, statistics, and opinions about the job market. Which to believe?

Here are some of the clashing tidbits I’ve found regarding our rather bipolar economy. (Snarky comments in italics are mine.)

The unemployment rate is at 5.5%. That means full employment. Hooray! Well, not if you are Nancy or I.

Big companies like IBM and Target are cutting jobs in massive numbers. Or maybe not. Anyway, it doesn’t matter. Tell that to the poor chumps who actually are laid off.

The unemployment rate is so low because many long-time unemployed have given up looking for a job and are no longer counted in the labor rolls. I’m a long-time unemployed worker. Therefore, I do not exist.

Despite the low unemployment rate, wages have not risen. But they might soon. Raise? What’s a raise?

The economy added nearly 300,000 jobs last month. Where? 

These statistics and ponderous yet detached musings on those numbers only impart a 27,000-foot-high airplane view of the job market, where you only spy the outlines of land and sea, the crevices of valleys tumbling down from the high mountains, or the lights of the street lamps and maybe the roofs of houses.

You never hear about what goes on inside those homes: The father telling his family he got laid off from his job and can no longer pay for the eldest son’s college tuition. The single mother crying at the table because her job was terminated and she doesn’t know how she will pay the rent or feed her baby. The older, single female worker laid off twice in four years struggles to find a job in the face of age discrimination, trying to pay bills with low-paying freelance jobs.

When the Great Recession of 2009-10 roared and thousands were unemployed, newspapers wrote those stories. Not anymore. Hey, the unemployment rate is 5.5%! Nothing more to see here. Move along.

The Democrats crow that their policies have saved the economy. Have they? Or is it just a natural economy cycle taking place?

The Republicans, looking for a wedge issue, bemoan the gnawing income inequality gap. This makes me laugh, bitterly. Funny they don’t mention how their slavish devotion to Corporate American has directly led to that very same income imbalance and wage stagnation. What did they think would happen when government removes the necessary regulatory reigns from corporations? Of course, corporations immediately hack away jobs in the thousands to pile up profits. Give raises to the workers? But that might cut into our executive bonuses! Perish the thought and hand me the keys to my Mercedes.

Let me be clear, this is not a political blog. But I do detect a sickening excess of political spin when it comes to the economy and job numbers — by both sides. It’s either partisan self-congratulation or brazen manipulation for each party’s purpose, which, at the core, is only about winning elections and staying in power. Neither party exhibits any real understanding or compassion for the citizens of this country, the people they are supposed to represent. I’m sick of the whole damn lot of them.

How about helping the long-term unemployed by reinstating extended unemployment benefits? Or providing funds to the jobless so they can learn new skills and return to the workforce? How about going after companies that blatantly discriminate against older job seekers?

How about nudging companies to lift wages so families can enjoy at a minimum a comfortable, middle class lifestyle? When people have more money, they tend to spend more on goods and services. That could help the economy rise, right?

Nah, nothing will be done. The unemployment rate is 5.5%, so who cares anymore about those long-term unemployed losers? Let them shrivel up their savings and become homeless.

Yes, I do admit the economy has improved. But better than it was is still not great. Competition for jobs is fierce, and employers are very, very picky.

Just ask Nancy and I.