The US Bureau Of Laboring Statistics calculates the latest rate of unemployment at 9%. We do however have to question the methodology and the real fact that another 300,000 or so people gave up looking for work. Real Unemployment is still in the teens and inflation for food and fuel is rising.
We can speculate that the fear of a massive tax hike, having been averted thanks to Republican pressure and the November election results, gave a positive signal to employers and that is why we see some hiring. It will need to be sustained for (years?) for us to see any measured improvement. But balanced against inflationary pressure how much this will help the economy overall is not promising. I can speak for myself. We are spending about 25% more on energy and 10-20% more on food. That’s a few hundred bucks a month that will not be going anywhere else including my savings account.
New Hampshire has itself seen a work force increase as employment numbers improve so that is a nice improvement over the past few years. Hopefully we can continue to incentive employers who are here by taking the liberal tax boot off their necks, and then attract more business with a promise of less bureaucracy, fewer hurdles, and how about some free market health insurance options as well.
