Woof. The latest issue of the Humboldt Economic Index is a major bummer. The leading indicators of our economic health “universally soured in November,” the report states. The monthly economic barometer, assembled by students in H.S.U.’s economics department, measures changes (with seasonal adjustments) in six sectors of the local economy. Here are the lowlights:
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Unemployment claims — up
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Help wanted ads — down
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Number of building permits issued — down
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Number of homes sold — down (albeit slightly)
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Median price of a home — down
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Retail sales — down
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Lumber manufacturing — down
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Hospitality — down
See? Bummer. Perhaps searching for a silver lining, the authors of the report note that national markets are faring better than ours, so things might start looking up “if local trends mimic general ones.” And one more bright (?) note: Local gas prices fell four cents to $3.94 per gallon. Just in time for Christmas.
This article appears in Fight.
If I’m to believe what I see all day with my own two eyes…lumber trucks double trailer stacked with fresh logs, driving down from the hills all day just about every day…lots of redwood…and the mills are all piled with mountains of fresh logs….that this massive activity is a “down” then please bring it “down” a whole lot more, please. I would have guessed logging is booming, it seems unseasonably yielding based on the truckloads this year.
…to think somebody wants to INCREASE anything related to the timber industry other than permanent preservation is disturbing. All environmental indicators suggest a drier climate is our permanent future. Global drought is frighteningly real.
Hospitality? Is as good as always, far as I notice. Eye of the beholder? Like minds gravitate? Misery loves company? Is hospitality based on how much money people give to safeway every month at the register for what they believe goes to some death awareness foundation?
I spoke with Marian Brady last November, and she said the Marina Center project would save the county. What ever happened to this project?
Those logs are being shipped to China for milling, thus the dip in “lumber manufacturing” numbers. We’re just another source of raw materials for nations that have bothered to develop industrial policies.
And the Marina Center? How would a strip mall “save” anything, much less “the county”?
If Brady said something would save the county, go the other way
The only way the Marina Center would save the county is if it was a high-tech office complex and Google was going to relocate there. The emphasis on adding more retail to compete with the companies who are already barely scraping by here, is ludicrous. Where are the people with real vision in this county?