Delawareans Losing Confidence In the Economy
Feb 7th, 2012 by David Anderson
According to a recent Gallup poll, the state with the biggest drop in confidence in the economy is Delaware.
Economic confidence dropped in all states and the District of Columbia in 2011, reflecting the overall decline nationally. The declines range from a low of 3 points in Idaho and West Virginia to a high of 22 points in Delaware. In fact, Delaware’s decline was steep enough that it fell from one of the 10 most confident states to one of the 10 least confident.
Delawareans were right to lose confidence. We went from some key indicators like unemployment being significantly better than the national average to coming closer to tracking it. Delaware had leaders like du Pont, Castle, and Carper who stayed ahead of the curve. Now we seem to be hit with one issue after another. Some of the big gains turned out to have job leakage to other countries.
This leaves us with certain questions. Will Delawareans stick with the same leadership that failed their confidence? Will the leadership address these concerns before it is too late? Will the opposition party seize the day or leave Delawareans wanting?
An interesting note is that Dover started this spring with higher than unemployment than the national average and now has lower unemployment than the national average.
I suppose the world is always a mystery to people with closed minds.
Delaware’s economic health was fueled for 25+ years by the Legalized Usury for Mammoth Banks law. When banking went into the toilet in 2008, how would it be surprising to find a state heavily dependent on finance to find itself taking a larger-than-average hit?
moved to delaware for work. had several jobs lined up and all had asked me to come on down. when i got here all were non existant. i felt housed. cost a lot of money to moved and now im stuck here. i found a stable job but money is not good and debt from moving is hard to get rid of. almost wished i stayed in super expensive new york where at least i could find work easier since there is more around.
Is this where those race to the top grants get us?
Too much dependence on the Federal dole, instead of reliance on your own efforts can lead to increased fear and uncertainty.
It’s good if you’re a mower, bartender, waitress, casino worker or state employee. Welcome to the new ‘service economy.’
Well Matt, you’ve got more courage than I do. There is no way I would have actually moved permanently without being an actual employee and having worked at the job for a month or two to make sure it panned out. I moved from California to Washington DC a number of years ago, but I did not permanently move for 8 months while I decided if I like where I was and what I was doing.
Road paving and bridge inspections aside, the construction industry is still DEAD! Not just for laborers and skilled tradesmen, but drafters, designers, engineers and project managers. I’m sure suppliers are still sucking wind during this phony “recovery” as well.
To beat the current leadership, don’t you have to have candidates that can win?
@ Dave, I have a friend who lives down here and have been down around this area many times. with the economy as bad as it is, there is nothing not worth taking a chance on. i may have added to my debt but i stay positive. I make a few bucks more than I was in New York, and my dollar goes further with being a tax free state. Searching online from New York for jobs it seems like so many are hiring, yet when you get here its completly different. I sent out and walked into many many places looking for work. Maybe wearing a suit or nice clothes scared off a lot of places while filling out applications, or maybe being from New York scares businesses thinking i would want more than they pay. But I understand that the money is different and I moved for the cheaper rent and more affordable lifestyle i can have down here. I do feel that companies down here in the Dover area do more advertising for jobs than actually hiring which is sad when people need jobs and the companies have the money to hire.
thanks for the confidence, it may have been a rough start but im doing what i set forth and its paying off now.
Job ads are posted for many reasons; often not at all because there is an actual job available.
Like, what ‘reasons?’
Because their own rule requires them to conduct a search, even though they have a candidate lined up. Or because they don’ t really have the budget for the hire to begin with, but nobody told the guy who posts ads.
Or because you just want to test the waters to see if anybody will take the job at the absurdly low pay you are offering.
Or because you are a recruiting firm who has a not-quite-finalized job requisition and wants to get out ahead of their competing recruiters.
These things happen all the time – just ask any current job-seeker. There are many reasons. Otherwise why are so many job postings bulls**t?
I placed ‘help wanted’ classified ads in the Washington Post, for years. And, for one reason- to find a new employee(s). And my guess is, most classifieds are placed for the same purpose.