What's missing from the 'official' (crap) numbers are (1) Unemployed who have simply stopped looking and have run out of unemployement benefits, (2) The seriously underemployed who have had hours and salaries cut, and most significantly, the self-employed and small business owners in every industry and service business who are not represented in any official numbers.
There are tens of thousands of independent contractors and freelancers who have little or no work. Writers, artists, builders, architects, actors, dancers, producers, programmers, musicians, fundraisers, event planners, etc, etc, etc.
If all these numbers were totaled I would not be surprised to see 25%+ unemployment and 30% underemployment in many areas of the U.S.
Recent surveys of corporate managers have not shown them to be planning new hires except for critical jobs.
Retailers (those still around) and restaurants are hanging on to their survival by a thread. Drive through any suburban area and count the commercial property signs. Each one represents a business and personal financial failure.
Real Estate, which supports a huge infrastructure, is in a depression. Foreclosures continue to rise in nearly every area, with banks holding back on flooding even more into the market.
And if things don't improve in the next few months, which I doubt they will, we'll be looking at a big double dip on the S&P.
IMHO, the Dow at 10,000 is a joke. 8500 is a more appropriate number. But hope, as always, springs eternal.
