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The economy will turn around when the jobs come back. Period.
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Sounds like you're a union man.
The economy is strongest when productivity is high and there are still enough unemployed people around who will work for pennies. Once things heat up so much that everyone has a job, the economy goes to Hell again. If you think back to the go-go years in the mid-90s, this is the exact pattern. By 1999-2000, wages were insane, employers were desparate, and doom was on the horizon.
Right now the U.S. economy is lean, mean and ready for growth. Keep an eye on those 10-Qs and you'll see what I mean. Not just the ones that makes the headlines, but the smaller companies that don't dominate their market. These rank and file firms have strong earnings growth and backlog is up (means future sales will be up). In most sectors, the pipeline is squeaky clean, too. That means consumer demand will drive production very directly.
The gun is loaded and cocked--that much is clear. Whether the consumer pulls the trigger remains to be seen...
But we're a long, long way from the sort of economy where you can't find workers and even deadwood makes six figures. Thank God for that!