We have almost reached the half-way point of 2009 and the news and analysis continues to flow...

The national unemployment rate spiked in May, approaching the emotionally critical double-digit mark.  However, some "experts" claim that the jump is due to newly and recently graduated college students who have not yet landed full-time employment.  More experts point to statistics telling us that new jobless claims were significantly down during the same period, indicating that lay-offs are not coming as rapidly as they once were, and that we may have arrived at the long-awaited "bottom".  Furthermore, a recent article in "The Wall Street Journal" recommends instilling "job-market skills" in youngsters as young as 5 years old as hot jobs and hot careers wax and wane over time.

The information can cause one to stagger, so my advice is always to stay close to reality and talk (have a meaningful discussion rather than simply accepting a stranger's opinion) with people who share interests, concerns, careers, and so forth.  Remember this.. the so-called "experts" who opine daily on the current recession, the future recovery, career paths, finances, and more are the same folks who must admit that they never saw the meltdown coming in 2008 or sooner.  

- Lou G.