Today’s employment numbers threw a little cold water on Thursday’s retail optimism. With the unemployment rate creeping above 10 percent (its highest since 1983!), it looks like the U.S. economy still has a bit of a rocky road ahead. This is not the news we were hoping for with the holiday selling season upon us.
According to a survey conducted by NRF partner BIGresearch last month, three-fourths of Americans are looking at unemployment as the deciding factor on whether the recession has ended. So, while most economists agree that the worst is behind us, these numbers will be another sign for shoppers that they need to hunker down. Quite frankly, customers aren’t buying the talk of recovery. At least not yet.
While the recovery from our last recession was consumer-led, this time we won’t be so lucky. Shoppers need to see improvement in areas that impact their bank accounts such as job and wage growth. They also need to see more stabilization in the housing market before heading back to the stores.
So in order to get the economy moving again, we need more jobs. The economic stimulus plan earlier this year was supposed to spur job growth, but I think it is safe to say in that area it has failed. And right now, Congressional action on issues like employer mandates for health care coverage and movement on card check legislation would actually keep American businesses from creating new jobs we so desperately need to get the economy moving again.
What I think would be most helpful is if Congress got out of the way and let the business community do what it does best: create jobs for hard-working Americans. I know it has become easy to villainize the business community over everything from executive compensation to who is most at risk when it comes to H1N1, but what is sometimes missing from the stone-throwing is that America relies on the business community as a cornerstone for employment in this country.
One thing we can all agree on is that our recovery from the worst recession in decades is fragile. Some even think we risk a double dip recession if we don’t get the consumer going again. Congress can still play an important role in helping cure this crisis of consumer confidence by ceding to businesses – or, in a perfect world, helping them – create jobs that will prove to Americans that the worst is behind us. (Yesterday’s passage of NOL carryback legislation was a good place to start.)
Before passing any new legislation, Congress needs to use a simple litmus test. They need to ask if the legislation in front of them helps create jobs, or kill jobs. There is a lot riding on that question.
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THANK YOU for this brief but poignant piece. Somehow we have gotten to the point where we are afraid to question or criticize our government – a terrifying and dangerous place to be. Thank god for those who are straightforward and brave enough to understand that this crisis is not about political ideology – it is about common sense things we as a community MUST do to prevent a collapse. It’s natural that we all want someone/something to blame, but that’s a childish defense mechanism, and there is not time for such an indulgence. Business is not evil – it is what drives our IRA’s and retirement funds; puts money in the coffers for government programs, and food on the table for hard working people. If you want to work for a living, the business of SAVING business in this country should be among your top priorities.
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[...] full results of this survey, please see the BIGresearch press release issued in October, and see the NRF commentary on NRF’s Big Retail Blog from earlier this week [...]