The economic recession that has crippled the world economy for the last few years is, according to Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke, “likely” to be over. We won’t know for sure until well after the fact, but the indicators are currently pointing towards a growth in our Gross Domestic Product. Unfortunately for those of us who don’t have lots of money in the stock market, the unemployment rate is going to remain high for a long time – possibly years. Unemployment is always a “lagging factor” during a recovery and is the last economic indicator to show improvement. This time around they don’t think the unemployment rate is going to come back quickly at all, so those of us who are out of work or stuck in a low-paying job and unable to find anything else are going to be mired down for a while.
I’ve mentioned before how difficult it is to maintain a healthy diet when you are poor due to the high cost of nutritious food, so imagine my surprise when I read recently that despite the fact that things, in general, tend to suck during an economic downturn the populace on the whole tends to get healthier.