With Black Friday just days away (or by some accounts already here), consumers appear ready to spend some real dough this holiday season.  At the same time, corporate profits last quarter were the highest on record - $1.66 trillion.  

The economy is really chugging along, right?  The Great Recession is over?  Well, not if you're unemployed.

Money Morning reports:  "The specter of long-term unemployment will sustain the unemployment rate as the skills of idled workers deteriorate and segments of the labor force are compelled to retrain or move out of the areas of the country that were propped up by the housing bubble. The likely result is that the unemployment rate will fall at only a gradual pace."

And the kicker:  "Of the 8.7 million people who lost their jobs during the recession, more than 7.3 million are still without work."  

The New York Times reports two key reasons why American companies are doing so well despite employing fewer of us and selling less to us:

"This breakneck pace can be partly attributed to strong productivity growth — which means companies have been able to make more with less — as well as the fact that some of the profits of American companies come from abroad. Economic conditions in the United States may still be sluggish, but many emerging markets like India and China are expanding rapidly."

In other words, the corporations have found ways to make do with fewer workers, and are making their real money selling to consumers overseas.

Translation:  they don't need us.

So if you're preparing to contribute to the big holiday sales rebound that analysts are forecasting, you might first consider where the American consumer stands these days in the scheme of things.  

Etsy, anyone?

 

 

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