From Daily Markets, 11 signs that we are in deep sneakers:
#1 In November 2006, the “official” U.S. unemployment rate was 4.5 percent. Today, the “official” U.S. unemployment rate has been at 9.5 percent or greater for more than a year.
#2 At Thanksgiving back in 2006, 26 million Americans were on food stamps. Today, there are over 42 million Americans on food stamps and that number is climbing rapidly.
#3 According to the U.S. Census Bureau, median household income in the United States fell from $51,726 in 2008 to $50,221 in 2009. Median household income declined the year before that too. Meanwhile, prices have continued to rise throughout that period.
#5 California home builders began construction on 1,811 homes during the month of August, which was down 77% from August 2006.
#7 A recent survey of last year’s college graduates found that 80 percent moved right back home with their parents after graduation. That was up substantially from 63 percent in 2006.
#8 According to one analysis, the United States has lost a total of 10.5 million jobs since 2007.
#9 In 2006, the Social Security program took in somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 billion more dollars than it paid out. Of course the U.S. government spent all that money instead of setting it aside. So now more U.S. retirees than ever are ready to start drawing on Social Security and a “tipping point” is rapidly coming. Social Security will pay out more in benefits in 2010 than it receives in payroll taxes. This was not supposed to happen until at least 2015, and the years ahead look very, very grim….
