WNYC’s Brian Lehrer Show has created an online section called “Uncommon Economic Indicators” where people submit signs of the recession observed around the New York City area. These won’t show up in any government statistics or charts, but they turn the abstract gloom of macroeconomic numbers into a concrete picture of what’s happening in the community. Some examples:

A young man from Jersey City reports:

In my neighborhood some families stopped feeding their pets because they could not afford to do so because of job lost or decrease in the income. I have started feeding these pets as they show in front of my door. This money is my pocket money I get from my parents. I think we should learn to share to get over with this difficult times.

From a mom:

Four years ago every birthday my daughter attended was an elaborate affair held at a party-place (except her own!). Now, my younger daughter has gone to home parties with hot dogs on the grill and home-made cakes.

And from a Brooklynite:

Unfortunately in our neighborhood, there have been a lot of store closings. What I have noticed recently is that every time one of these business closes, a psychic moves in. What that means, I can’t quite figure out.

Straight from the front lines.

Posted on August 19, 2009 at 7:03 pm
http://economybeat.org/living-the-recession/signs-o-the-times/
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Categorised under : living the recession
Tagged with : economic indicators , New York City