Is ther economy and jobs on LI getting better?

I"m just curious what people think, I so feel a lot of the continued failure to improve --certainly not ALL-- is due to fear and the CONSTANT media attention of how bad things could get instread of focusing on the positives....I'm just curious what others thought. Obviously there are some real issues with jobs and economy but just curious if you see thing getting better, especially here in NY/Long Island. I still see full stores,restaurants etc. and sometimes don't get it as I also know some peopel that are REALLY struggling but some that just started getting jobs which makes me think things are improving here...

Message edited 8/18/2010 11:28:40 PM.

Re: Is ther economy and jobs on LI getting better?

I so see your point about restaurants. We were in Huntington Village on a week night and our restaurant was packed. Malls are a little trickier, b/c people can go and not buy a thing.


As for jobs, I think it depends on your profession. Teachers are hurting this year and I saw on another posts that the demand for nurses is declining (something I never thought would happen). But DH is in IT and he has two friends trying to recruit him for two different jobs (NYC though) and a pretty stable job. Much different than the post-911 economy in NY.

Re: Is ther economy and jobs on LI getting better?

Personally, the restaurants are all running some type of promotions to get people in. Doing things like Prix fixe menu's etc..

As far as jobs,I guess it depends on the field really. However, most fields are still hurting. There has been a trickle of jobs opening up here and there in IT and Engineering.

When I am in the mall, the stores still seem empty to me. If these people are buying, it's what they absolutely need. People are still holding onto their money.

I really hope this nonsense ends very soon with the economy the way it is. It's been 2 years already of this and I can't see us Americans going for a third. Something GOOD has to happen.

Re: Is ther economy and jobs on LI getting better?

This topic interests me because I was an economics major, I've taught economics, and I'm unemployed.

I agree that restaurants are packed. We just got back from Hershey and that was totally packed - midweek.

It's tough to draw conclusions from the level of crowds at those types of places, though, because people could be substituting cheaper alternatives due to tough times - i.e. for some people Hershey could have replaced Disney, a restaurant dinner could replace a weekend away, etc.

There was just an article in Newsday about how LI is adding jobs but they are in low paying sectors like retail.

It's hard to tell what the effect will be. If people are taking those jobs instead of living wage type jobs, then that's bad. If people are now able to come off food stamps but are just barely getting by, that's probably neutral.

On the other hand, if that retail job is what is enabling a family to take a vacation, that encourages spending which puts $$$ back into the economy and that's a good thing.

I suspect that the negative stuff I described is outweighing the positive stuff. We shall see.

Message edited 8/20/2010 10:45:11 PM.

Re: Is ther economy and jobs on LI getting better?

It's hard for me to answer this because I am not out of work. I have had no need to look so I don't know how it's going for my field (although the jobs look like they are there social work/healthcare). However, we could really use extra help AT my job and they are not pushing to hire anyone new.

Just PER DIEM nurses and home health aides. To be honest, the aides are at the lowest of the low in terms of employment, and per diem nurses----most do it for extra money and their heart is not really "in it" so you get crappy outcomes IMHO.

Re: Is ther economy and jobs on LI getting better?

Re: Is ther economy and jobs on LI getting better?

IMO it is harder to get a job now then it was 1.5 years ago. And most of them are part time with low pay.

Re: Is ther economy and jobs on LI getting better?

2 of my mom friends who have been looking for part time work, only on LI, have both just received offers. One is an architect, the other a lawyer.

Both jobs are "beneath" them both in terms of pay and actual job responsibilities, but convience and location (not in nyc)trumped all.

Both friends have been looking for work for about a year.

Their sense is that the economy allows employers to take complete advantage of you. So who really knows.

Re: Is ther economy and jobs on LI getting better?

Re: Is ther economy and jobs on LI getting better?

Re: Is ther economy and jobs on LI getting better?

I think it's getting worse. I work in a state agency, but we are in a hiring freeze, and they declared "fiscal exigency", which means they can lay off union employees who are tenured. I've been working for 12 years, and never seen it this bad, and in my field, there seems to be no end in sight.