"It Will Get Worse Before It Gets Better"

While on business travel I enjoy watching the local news in the morning to get a sense of what issues are important to people in the viewing area I happen to be visiting. This morning in Fort Walton Beach, FL the top story was the cold front that might bring snow to the Tennessee valley later in the week. What was not the top story but was included in the broadcast was the fact that this county in Florida has an unemployment rate of 9.3%. I am guessing that the producers realize that reminding people of the economic reality around them will not exactly give them a lift to start their day.

Just as people here in Fort Walton Beach no longer want to hear about the economic troubles that face this nation, it looks as though Wall Street might becoming slightly immune to bad news. On a day where California announced its unemployment rate was getting very close to 10% and 6 major companies announced they would be laying off a combined 68,000 employees, the markets didn't sell off but actually managed to hold onto some positive ground.

Some economists are hoping that the onslaught of negative news will make it easier to pin point when the economy bottoms out. Just as quickly as the recession came, it can turn around in a period of just a few months and we will then start hearing about companies re-hiring many of the same people that had to lay off during this downturn and at that point we will know it is over.