Recently in Economy Category

Now that some economists are saying our almost 2-year-old recession is over, I think it's time we name it something. You know, like we name hurricanes...Katrina, Andrew...Rita.

Maybe we should even have a national center that names them - like the National Hurricane Center names hurricanes -- we could have a National Recession Center to do the job.

Each year, the center could put out a list of names in alphabetical order. If that year has a recession, we just check a name off that list.

Students reading about economic history would have an easy way to remember the worst recession since the Great Depression. Government leaders, policy makers and businesses would have a ready made reference point to separate all the recessions we've had.

Psychologically, by putting a name on it, maybe it would be easier to box up and leave behind.

Turns out, there may be some value in that.

"(A name) would have a different meaning for each person," said Joann Moran, a cinical psychologist who teaches a class in San Marino with her husband on coping with the financial crisis.

People would rename it to be "less overwelming, where they can frame it in the context of something they have some power over."

And maybe the name could even have some accountability built into it, she said.

Some ideas come to mind.

Howabout Subprime Recession , after institutions that ran wild with adjustable rate and low-documentation loans that led to the housing meltdown, which in turn led to the fall of the financial system?

Howabout Recession Lehman - for the fall of Lehman Bros., the biggest bank failure in history?

Recession Greenspan?

Hmmm.

I don't know. I guess the name depends on who you are talking to.

What we do know is that this is the worst recession since the Great Depression.

That's why a lot of people are calling it the Great Recession, said Jack Kyser, founding economist for the Los Angeles Economic Development Corp.

It's not quite a depression, but it's the worst of the recessions, he said.

That works for me. Only one problem...Nothing about 12.7 percent unemployment - over 15 percent in some valley areas - is particularly great...not great at all.

But anything, anything to look back during better times and to give the last two years a name.

It's not so much so that we can remember it. It's more about putting a name on something that has harmed us, so we can beat it back, punch it, beat it and hope to God we learn from it and never see anything like it again.

By the way, if you've got any ideas for a name, feel free to pass them along...just make sure they are something that we can publish in a family paper.

If you're looking for hope in dismal job numbers, here's a trickle of it, mixed in with unsettling numbers:

From the Associated Press:

"There are about 6.1 unemployed workers, on average, competing for each job opening, a Labor Department report shows. That's down slightly from 6.2 last month, the most since the department began tracking job openings nine years ago.
It's a sharp increase from only 1.7 workers per opening when the recession began in December 2007.
The department's Job Openings and Labor Turnover survey said employers advertised about 2.5 million job openings at the end of September, up slightly from the previous month. That's down from a peak of 4.8 million openings in June 2007."

I realize that's not the greatest news. But it's on the right track.

The hope is that businesses will have no choice but to start hiring again, once they've trimmed production and labor to the point that they can't be trimmed any more.

Well, it seems like there's more than a few people out there who are upset over the transtion to digital TV.

On Sunday, we published a story  about problems people are having with their digital converter box - bad reception, pixelated picture, no sdignal at all, lack of channels...

On my voice mail there were a few more -- including the inability to record shows at one time while watching another show.

Here are a couple of links. Hopefully, they'll help a little in your troubleshooting....

http://tv.about.com/od/frequentlyaskedquestions/a/watchrecorddtv.htm

http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/troubleshootguide.html

If you are a professional looking for work, and you'd rather pound the pavement for work on Labor Day than grill a burger, you might want to attend the Pinkslip Mixer in Pasadena.

From 2 to 5 p.m. at a spot called Bar Celona, 46 E. Colorado Blvd., organizers are planning a multi-city/state job mixer, bringing together other Pinkslip mixers in other cities and state via live video streams and online media.

At the very least, it's a chance to mix with people in the same boat - unemployed or underemployed. And it could mean a chance to talk to a recruiter.

I attended one myself, and ended up doing a story on it. It seemed like a great way to make contacts, and share your job experience with others. The idea is to "pay it forward." You can look out for jobs that might fit people you meet. And they'll do the same for you.

Go to...

http://pinkslipmixers.com/

The economy is not out of the woods when it comes to foreclosures.

Here's a press release I received on an upcoming event that may help:

Rep. Napolitano, Assemblywoman Norma Torres to hold foreclosure
prevention fair in Pomona.

Rep. Grace F. Napolitano and Assemblywoman Norma Torres will hold a
foreclosure prevention fair in Pomona on Saturday, Aug. 29,
featuring talks by Napolitano, Torres, and Attorney General Jerry Brown,
one-on-one foreclosure and credit counseling in both English and
Spanish, workshops on buying homes and avoiding fraud, and booths
hosted by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Department of
Consumer Affairs, the cities of Norwalk and Montebello, and other
organizations. The fair will run from 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at the
Village Conference Center, 1444 E. Holt Ave, Pomona. The fair is
completely free and open to the public. Those interested in attending
should register by calling (909) 984-7741 or going to
www.assembly.ca.gov/torres, and bring along mortgage and financial
documents with them if they are looking for a consultation.

Hello readers,

If anybody is looking for a good website on tracking federal stimulus funds -- and hey, who isn't -- you might check out www.recovery.org. You can track funds right down to the city.

Monrovia-based company AeroVironment announced Wednesday that the government has extended the firm's contract to create a mechanical reconnaissance bird.
That's right ... a bird. Check out the project's early phases:

To the right of the screen, you might see this ad:

"The San Gabriel Valley Small Business Development Center offers classes, counseling and consulting for entrepreneurs and small business owners. The SBDC is a partnership between Mt. San Antonio College and the U.S. Small Business Administration.
The San Gabriel Valley."

They'll have to take that off, as of today. In case you didn't know, the center is closing today because of lack of funding.

http://www.mtsacsbdc.com/web/

Erika Moldenado is one determined business owner.

We caught up recently, eight months after I did a story on her new business.

She told me how she was doing, and the economy's effect on sales. It hasn't been all pretty, but this is one determined business owner.

Back in November, she started Oasis Tropical Fruits & Juices in Whittier.

Faced with the question of how she was going to make a living for her and her young son, she sold her homemade assortments of fruit snacks on the street. She sold to anyone from attorneys to truckers to restaurants.

With some good luck selling, and nudging from her clientele, she opened her fruit bar in November.

Unfortunately, the young, single mother started her business in the thick of the economic downturn.

"It's been a rough seven months," she said. "I'm glad I'm still here. But the way the economy has been...it hasn't been good on sales."

It hasn't been great on neighboring business either. The small plaza her business is in has lost several businesses.

But like I said, she's determined.

She's gone back to selling her fruit on the streets of Whittier again, getting the word out.

On Friday, she'd just returned from selling.

But it was a little slow. Perhaps people weren't interested because they were so immersed in the Michael Jackson news, she thought

As it gets warmer, maybe sells will pick up, she said.

But even if they don't, I got the idea that this business owner is going to keep trying.

"I'm not going to fail," she said. "I'm going to ride this out.... I'm faithful. It's going to be good." 

After nearly 20 years, the San Gabriel Valley Small Business Center is closing on Tuesday, June 30th.

Workshops and counseling will no longer take place at the center, and its website will be taken down in July.

It's a sad victim of the economy -- as Mt. San Antonio College and other local sources -- plagued by their own finance issues --  could no longer support it.

http://www.mtsacsbdc.com/web/