Economy

jim 249

In light of all the electronics that are being sold here on Club Polk because of economic problems, even with a reported improving economy, I would like to here your thoughts about the economies in the places were you live. Here in Boise, Idaho things might be starting to pick up but not much. The only thing I see picking up is food and gas prices. Foreclosures are still happening. College costs are rising. I did not lose my job so that helps in the fact that I have not been impacted yet and have not felt the impact of the recession. Any thoughts out there?

nooshinjohn

Seems to be stable here at the moment, but the earthquake in Japan is starting to be felt in my line of work as the supply of cars for me to sell is drying up quick. We expect to get no more Imprezas and very few Foresters over the next several months and production schedules have been backed off at SIA as well. Toyota has been severely hit, and expects to get us only half the cars we need to keep up with demand.

txcoastal1

Just steady here but thr employment taxes gave gone up effecting me and other small business by 25% since the Bush years and we had to switch health insurance companys because Aetna had a 30% hike across the board. Fuel cost are a big damper. The additional costs swallowed any and all improvements in the economy and then some.

quadzilla

I know a lot of the people at my company have left for much higher paying jobs, so hiring in high tech seems way up around here. I've had 3 offers over the last couple of months myself, the last one of which I haven't said no to yet. And even within the company I'm being asked to consider moving to another area.

So, things are looking like they're getting better to me. Still room to improve, but things are moving in the right direction. The oil market shocks caused by what's going on in the Middle East seem to be one of the biggest drags right now, but oil has recently dropped, so maybe fuel prices will get more reasonable again. Even then, it's no where near as bad in the US as it is in, say, the EMEA region, where gas is running 6-8 bucks US a gallon.

byfthalone

Living in area of the RV Capitol of the World things took quite a while to begin recovery, however, it is starting to pick up and as it always happens here, companies go under and the birth of new companies bring back those lost jobs. So far the increasein gas prices hasn't hurt sales, but if it continues or goes higher things could get tenuous. Being an outside sales rep with these companies being a major portion of my territory has been less than enjoyable the last few years but still have a job and for that I'm thankful.

mdaudioguy

nooshinjohn wrote: »

Seems to be stable here at the moment, but the earthquake in Japan is starting to be felt in my line of work as the supply of cars for me to sell is drying up quick. We expect to get no more Imprezas and very few Foresters over the next several months and production schedules have been backed off at SIA as well. Toyota has been severely hit, and expects to get us only half the cars we need to keep up with demand.

I figured the situation was something like that... My local Toyota dealer called me last week saying they'd like to make me an offer on the 2011 Camry we just purchased in November, implying that they might be able to give us nearly what we paid for it! I wasn't interested, but was surprised to get such a call. He said prices on recent year used Toyotas are spiking, and that he just sold a Corolla back to them for $1,000 more than he paid for it... (sounded a little suspect to me, but...)

nooshinjohn

mdaudioguy wrote: »

I figured the situation was something like that... My local Toyota dealer called me last week saying they'd like to make me an offer on the 2011 Camry we just purchased in November, implying that they might be able to give us nearly what we paid for it! I wasn't interested, but was surprised to get such a call. He said prices on recent year used Toyotas are spiking, and that he just sold a Corolla back to them for $1,000 more than he paid for it... (sounded a little suspect to me, but...)

The prices for high MPG trades have gone way up. I took in a 2003 Honda Civic for 1400 bucks more than the car appraised for 3 months ago. My dealership is scrambling to grab high MPG used cars now as we are not expecting new car inventory to hold out through the summer.

fishbones

Where's the Karma? Is it a car???

I'm in....I'll take #69!!!