Unemployment rising and more lay offs expected.

[NW Admin]

For a while there, I was really only effected by this decline in our economy by seeing how it effects others on the news and the prices of things I have to purchase. But lately, I have been feeling that cold hand slowly reaching into my life and messing things up.

I have family members who have been recently laid off from jobs they have had for a very long time. And these are well qualified people who are an asset to their company. Others have been seeing huge lay offs happening all around them and just that alone is very depressing and stressful for them.

One of my family members was at work one day when he got an email mentioning cut backs. Then, just a few minutes later, administration came into his area and started firing people left and right all around him. Then he heard they were firing people in other countries as well. It was so distressing for him that he had to leave so he could gain composure. Now he is so worried that the company he has been with for over 20 years might lay him off as well. So, you can now find him working ridiculously long hours and basicly working himself into an early grave to make sure he is too valuable an asset to let go. This cannot be healthy.

I have another family member who's employer has laid off more then 50% of their employees. The company has also not been scheduling him regularly because they no longer have enough work/contracts for the workers. So he is having to turn to unemployment which I have seen first hand requires some hoops to jump through. Even with that, his financial situation is not the best now.

I find myself wondering, how bad will this get? How bad could it get? I feel like in this day and age we should be smart enough to prevent a full blown depression. But then again, I would think that we would be smart enough to live in a world without war and look at us now.

[Q-Tip]

I'm right there with ya. This economy is killing everyone, including me. We have had to cut back on everything we spend money on and buy cheap generic brand stuff. Can't go on vacation anywhere because the gas is too expensive.