Signs of the Times

Wal-Mart managers may be the first to know when the economy starts to recover because they see consumer shopping behaviors firsthand. So far, customers have been shopping with lists, abandoning items at the checkout line in order to meet strict budgets, and buying inferior goods. When the good times return, many customers may stop shopping at Wal-Mart and go back to their usual (pricier) stores.

There are still 3 million job openings in the US; it's just that the currently unemployed are not qualified to fill those jobs. The sad fact of the matter is that Americans have become complacent. Instead of constantly trying to improve ourselves and our skill sets, we have developed the mentality that we're the best in the world and whatever skills we bring to the table should be enough. This type of inertia creates a situation in which the labor market can't clear because there aren't enough qualified candidates to fill the open positions. We have been surpassed by other countries in college attendance and graduation rates. While some European countries require retraining as a condition for receiving welfare and unemployment benefits, we do not. The US has fallen behind the curve and needs to get its act together!