Sign of the Times?

Hmmm….are things perking up a bit, economically speaking?

Well, I’m not sure, but here are some things I’ve been noticing:

1.  A new house is being built in my neighborhood.  The first one in over a year.

2.  Lots of newspaper stories asking “Is the Recession Over?”, etc. etc.  Newspapers like BAD news more than anything, so this is interesting.

3.  Another newspaper article that said that lots of companies are looking to re-hire people they laid off.  Companies figure that training people is expensive, so they might as well hire people who have already been trained.

4.  Actually, construction in general all around DFW seems to be picking up again.  I guess this means that credit is “loosening up”.

5.  The stock market is doing really well (well, at least my little corner).

6.  Gasoline is $2.22 here.  This is kind of low, but not as low as last Christmas ($1.36), when things were really bad.

7.  I’ve seen lots and lots of new cars and trucks around.  My neighbor has two brand-new vehicles in the driveway.  Maybe this is a result of “Cash for Clunkers”?

8.  I’ve been getting a lot more credit card solicitations in the mail the last few weeks.  Yesterday there were four.

All this time that we’ve been in a “recession”, though, I haven’t noticed that restaurants and movie theaters have been any less crowded or mall parking lots any less full.  But when I’ve been at the grocery store I’ve noticed a LOT more people using coupons and buying store brands.

Well, let’s keep our fingers crossed.