The question about the recovery of the economy depends on who you are talking to and what business you are in. For some businesses the recovery has started. For others, the economy is still flat and they haven’t seen any growth. It also depends on what part of the country you are in. So the economy is either in recovery, is flat or hasn’t started to recover yet. It all depends upon your specific business situation. It does appear that the free fall and massive job layoffs have stopped. Although people are still being layed off it is in much smaller numbers which is a good sign. But I still expect it to take some time for the economy to heat up. What I judge my observation on is FedEx and UPS.
Earlier this month, according to an article in the Wall Street Journal posted on January 9th, United Parcel Service announced that it was boosting its fourth-quarter profit projections by more than 15% signaling the economy is improving but UPS also announced 1,800 job cuts and said it expects the recovery to be gradual. The article goes on to state that UPS is considered a barometer of the economy because it ships an average of 15 million packages a day. Estimates value the parcels at 6% of the U.S. gross domestic product. Because of their roles enabling commerce, the WSJ explains that companies like UPS and FedEx are among the first to experience the effects of a downturn or a turnaround. Still the UPS announcement comes with caution.
The one thing I am absolutely sure of is that there is business out there. You just need to continue to improve your company operations, your sales process, motivate your employees and everyone needs to work harder than they ever worked before.