Oct 12, 2009 11:19 pm US/Eastern
Despite Talk Of Recession's End, Many Struggling
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
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George Aboujaoude, owner of Cafeteria on Newbury Street, says economists may be seeing improvement, but he isn't.
WBZ
Here's some good news about the economy for a change: U.S. economists believe the recession is over and expansion is beginning.
"We're going to see a recovery that's not a fast bounce back but… a slow and steady pullout from the big hole that we fell into," said Boston College economics professor Peter Ireland.
A Survey by the National Association for Business Economics found more then 80 percent of private economists believe the recession is over. They do caution the recovery will be slow because of concerns over unemployment and the federal debt.
Restaurant owner George Aboujaoude is hoping for the best. He opened his restaurant, Cafeteria, on Newbury Street just as the recession was beginning. "We opened December 2007 and immediately began to feel the crunch."
Aboujaoude says economists may be seeing improvement, but he isn't. "I haven't seen any signs of that yet, not here in this business and the signs here on Newbury Street, everything's for lease lot of spaces open and available."
Professor Ireland says economists based their findings on data such as increased car sales and chain store sales. But, he said the key is unemployment. "Jobs continue in United States to be lost, so I think we're a long way from really seeing much in the way of good news." He adds, "Unless what you call good news is that the bad news is getting less bad."
Mark Taslakian opened his tanning salon, Glow, on Newbury Street a month ago. He says he doesn't see an end yet to the recession. "At this point I disagree," he said. "So many people are out of work nobody is hiring."
Survey respondents look for the economy to expand at a rate of nearly 3 percent in this second half of the year and about the same in 2010.
Economists say the housing market recovery will gain momentum next year. They look for housing prices to rise 2 percent in 2010.
Professor Ireland however believes the employment rate won't bounce back until 2011, or even 2012.
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