Unemployment
It’s said that a recession is when the person next door is out of work.
And a depression is when you are out of work.
We are losing jobs in the United States at a rate of more than a half million a month. Everyone agrees on that. New figures come out tomorrow, and the guess is about 660,000, seasonally adjusted.
That means in reality, without adjustment, it will actually be something like 700, 000 (conservatively) to 1,000,000 or more. One friend totaled up raw figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, not counting retirees and others who are truly not in the job market, and he got a total of 19.5% unemployed in the United States. And that is previous to the new report tomorrow.
Another source posting on MarketWatch estimated underemployment, meaning people who want to work more hours to make ends meet but cannot get them, at about the same amount.
So if you currently have an income source, count yourself as blessed. If you have a sufficient income, you are truly blessed.
This leads me to a familiar tune, sung in a slightly different key.
If you have enough money to buy food and stock it for a rainy day, NOW is the time to do it. Before things change… and things are changing very rapidly… and you find yourself, through absolutely no fault of your own, unable to buy a stock of food.
Two and a fraction years ago when I started saying things like this to people, I was relegated to the tinfoil hat brigade. I got some rather nasty comments. Now that rarely happens. Instead, I get thanked. Twice, just this morning.
That makes me feel good. There… I’ve basked in it long enough. Back to the wall, where I say with all my heart, prepare now. The great storm is not on the horizon. It is arriving. I can feel the first raindrops, like tears, on my face. I see the squall lines approaching. Take care of yourself. Provide for your entire family. Stock enough emergency food to also take care of others, at least a little, if you can possibly manage it. We will need to hang together, or be blown away one by one.
