The Sky Is Falling......or Not!

The North Carolina Employment Security Commission just released the January unemployment figures, and it’s not a pretty picture. The unemployment rate increased from 8.1% in December to 9.7% in January…..oh woe is me, the sky is falling! What will we do? What will we do?

Don’t let yourself fall for the blood and guts, doom and gloom reports that are constantly bombarding us from just about every media outlet we come across. The age of instant access, 24-hour news is both a blessing and a curse. Sure it’s great to be able to keep up with what’s happening right now, but as media outlets compete for viewers/listeners/readers they are always going to lead with the most sensational story they can produce; and usually that story is the poor economy and job losses. Don’t allow yourself to be drawn in.

A great example of all of the doom and gloom is the recent reporting on local job fairs in the Carolinas. Many of the local news outlets began their coverage with live reports about the large number of job seekers at these events, and continued with interviews of those same job seekers, but mainly the ones who have been out of work for a long time and were not successful at the job fair. The stories then evolved into, “Job Fairs. Are they worth your time?” So called “experts” suggested that it was a waste of time attending a job fair. Typical reporting of the worst part of the story!

Very few of the media outlets reported on the number of job seekers who actually found a job or had a follow up interview scheduled. Which story is the most sensational….”Thousands line up looking for a job!” or “Hundreds find jobs!”

Sure, the number of jobs available is less than in the past, and the types of jobs may not be exactly what we are looking for, but there are jobs out there. As a nation we can’t allow ourselves to be pulled down by all of the bad news. You have probably heard the saying, "Perception is reality." If we all believe that there is no end to the current recession, then that is going to be our reality. On the other hand, if we all believe that things will get better, then they will. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but they will. We’ve been here before and have always come back better and stronger than before.

No matter what your political philosophy is, or whether or not you are a supporter of our new President, one point we should all agree upon when it comes to an economic recovery is “Yes We Can!”