Well, I've been waiting for the words "recession," but so far the economy seems to be stabilizing, which is good news. Kiplinger writes that the fallout from housing hasn't crashed the economy, but job losses continue to bring things down. I know we've lost $35K of unrealized gain, but on the other hand, we've gained $98K on our house the past five years for a total gain of around 10%/year -- pretty decent. So it depends on which side of the housing boom you stand, I suppose.
The positive message is that the economy is bearing up despite the fallout from housing, which is clearly taking a bite out of hiring. The overall monthly gain of 94,000 jobs hides big losses in manufacturing, construction and financial services, all linked to housing woes. Fortunately, a broad array of service industries continues to add workers.
The negative message is that housing-related job losses will probably worsen in coming months as home builders continue to scale back output, many mortgage lenders pare staff, and homeowners shy away from home improvement projects. And managers in other industries will be more cautious about taking on more staff as economic growth slows.
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