Mass Layoffs| Installment Loans Help You Through the Slump

There, I Said It: Recession

The current unemployment rate in the U.S. is 7.6%

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know that people have been taking out mortgage loans and personal loans, and installment loans at a phenomenal rate. You probably also know that the U.S. economy is struggling, and we’re in what most people would consider a recession. In fact, the under-regulation of the mortgage industry has had a lot to do with the current financial crisis. The stock market has been a roller coaster of record lows and record recoveries, interest rates have been cut multiple times, and a number of major banks have been bought out or gone out of business.

Feeling the Effects

No matter what industry you’re in or at what level you are within that industry, I can guarantee that you have somehow been affected by the economic downturn:

The nightmare effects at the pump

Gas prices are finally coming down, but summer at the gas pump was a nightmare. Groceries cost an arm and a leg, especially if you’re trying to maintain a healthy diet. It’s easy to see why so many people choose the value menu at their favorite fast food restaurant. Those that invest in stocks have lost big. In fact, it’s been speculated that the safest place for your money right now is under your mattress; it will be safer there than in a bank or in the stock market. I don’t know if I’d go so far as to make my mattress my piggy bank, but the idea has been mentioned. And most significantly, you or someone that you know has probably been laid off from a job.

The “It Can’t Happen to Me” Syndrome

Americans have developed a strange sense of invincibility. Regardless of the warnings we receive about potential misfortune—home foreclosures, cancer, the side effects of prescription drugs, natural disasters, unemployment—we always have the same response: “It can’t happen to me.” What an unrealistic thought process; we refuse to accept that anything bad could happen to us, until that something actually happens. It can happen to you.

For thousands of Americans, that “something” happened, and that “something” was unemployment. There were massive layoffs all over the country this year. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the number of layoffs between January and September 2008 were the highest they’ve been since 2003, and the nation’s unemployment rate jumped from 4.7% last September to 6.1% this September. You didn’t think it could happen to you, but you (or one of your co-workers) have probably lost a job this year.

Basic Economics

There is hope. As economic history has proved time and again, the economy always recovers. Sooner or later, the U.S. economy will pick up, and the unemployment rate will drop. Until then, you should budget and spend your money wisely. If you need financial help to pay the bills or to cover emergency costs in this turbulent economy you can always utilize installment loans. If you have a steady source of income, which includes an unemployment check, you are eligible to receive installment loans to help you out while we wait for the economy to get back on track.