Do you think the economy is improving?

Yes. It's easier to get someone to buy you a drink now.

I think the economy will stay poor as all the jobs that were lost will be hard to replace. the blue collar jobs will be many months down the road. the only jobs created will be govt and health care jobs that we the tax payers will have to pay for

U.S. unemployment rate jumps to 26-year high of 9.7%

1.3M to Lose Jobless Entitlement by Year's End
- USA Today

A Failure of Capitalism?
Politicians often find scapegoats for America’s economic woes. It is rare – if ever – that they point the finger at themselves. Yet, the basic cause of the current severe economic problem lies in the machinations of government.


gov't trying to run your lives with healthcare--forced vaccinations--higher taxes for middle income...

NO it's not getting better--hang on the ride of your life is coming...

Duh! Give me a break Columbus Telegram.
You just got done reporting the shut down of EGS aka Appleton Electric, and you want to know if we thing the economy is improving? DON'T LOOK LIKE IT'S IMPROVING TO ME!!! People are unemployed, have gotten their hours cut, and jobs are getting slim to none, and you have the nerve to ask such a dumb question! Get out there and find something of more importance to fill your worthless website and paper with! Oh and lets not forget that in order for us to get the full story, we need to subscribe to this dumb website. So you tell me, do you think the economy is improving?????

If the economy is improving? why are we losing our jobs to go down south?

What higher taxes?

Dumb question, in my opinion, why not ask why is the sky blue? Good luck to the people from Appleton, unfortunately, where
ever you go, it will probably blow, too.
Camaco is a dump, BD is a clean dump. Behlen is a dump, maybe open a nail salon, I don't know.

I agree with what opening up a nail salon at least that buisness will stay open

Economy is not improving, locally or nationally.

The talking heads on the news look insane when they keep telling us that it is though. It lets me know just who owns them and how much our media is controlled.

Yes the economy is improving. In reality, the appleton jobs went south because it can be done less expensive there. Many companies have sent jobs south even in good times to increase profit margin. I know the jobs arent coming back yet, but that is typically the last thing to come back in a down turn. The cycle goes from product demand decrease, product manufacture decrease, manufacturer downsizing, demand stability, demand increase, product manufacture increase, manufacturer expansion.

I was just wondering how a person who works at the police department and gets military retirement and his wife works 40 hrs plus can get free lunches for their kids but a family that husband works 32 hrs a week because of cut backs and wife is on disability does not get approved for free lunches or even reduced lunches for their kids something is messed up there wouldn't you say.

It's very difficult for me to believe the economy is improving with the national unemployment rate at 9.7% and steadily climbing.

I mean, someone has to have a job and work in order to pay for all of the free lunches being handed out by our betters in DC, right?

Otherwise, it might get REAL ugly instead of just very ugly.

I DO NOT FEEL THE ECONOMY IS IMPROVING. THE LARGEST LAYOFFS WERE FROM BAILOUT COMPANYS. NOW THE SMALLER COMPANYS ARE LAYING OFF SMALLER NUMBERS OF PEOPLE, BUT MORE COMPANIES ARE LAYING OFF. MAYBE THE PRESIDENT HAD A GOOD IDEA BY WANTING TO ASK THE CHILDREN OF THE COUNTRY HOW THEY COULD HELP THE PRESIDENT RUN THE COUNTRY. THEIR IDEAS MAY HAVE BEEN VERY USEFUL TO HIM. PEOPLE ARE`AFRAID TO SPEND. WHEN YOU SEND JOBS SOUTH IN GOOD TIMES IT IS GOING TO CATCH UP WITH YOU EVENTUALLY, PLUS THE QUALITY OF WORK IS ABOUT 70% LESS THAN IT IS IN THE U.S.

Things are looking up from my standpoint. I found a nickel yesterday!

You said it best "What"!!! All those factories in Columbus are DUMPS!
Clean Dumps, dirty Dumps...ALL DUMPS!!
ESPECIALLY BD!!

At least these "dumps" are still employing people.

Slightly better. It is getting easier to get credit, but it took us a while to get to where we are so it will take a while to get us out. If people thought we would be out of this fast, you are living in another world. Many economists said we were in the worst shape since the Great Depression. We are in a "I want it now" society, very impatient. Let's face it many cannot afford to be patient. But, I think it could have been far worse. Jobs have been going South and overseas for many, many years. I lost a job that went South. It is nothing new, but in an economy that is down, it seems much worse for fear there are no other jobs. Earlier this year, the gov. had predicted that unemployment will hit 10% so buckle up, we have a bit of a ride yet.

To getting worse by the day, capitalism has not failed, it just has it's ups and downs, depending on your views, the free market system works just fine, go ask someone in Russia how socialism works. Health care is huge and getting bigger, why? because we don't take care of ourselves. Remember the fat kid in school forty years ago? That kid is now the rule not the exception, it's too bad, we've built this, now we have to pay for it.

Joe the Bummer got a 2% raise so things must be improving.

Let Our Jobs Go South To Mexico, Where It Is Cheaper For The Company To Produce Products Through Their Own Personal Sweat Shops. But Yet Once The Products Get Here They Are More Expensive To Buy... Make Sense? No Our Economy/Government Is Crap.

Jobs going south? That's what you get for not supporting a union of workers who fight for those jobs and buy into the corporate scam that unions are bad. And the deregulation on wall street that allows them to take business somewhere else for investors profits. For that, you all deserve your jobs going south, don't expect it to improve any time soon.

Fred,

You forgot to mention how government regulations have contributed to jobs moving overseas.

I don't mind at all seeing corporate profits go up and I suspect, neither do many other Americans.

We have 401k's. Invested in "Wall Street". It's called "retirement."