Perceptions of the Job Situation:
Who and What are We to Believe?

The Gallup Organization has just released the results of a new poll that finds people are not very optimistic about their job situation, despite what the U.S. Department of Labor had to say about increased job growth in January.

According to Gallup: "On Feb. 7, the U.S. Department of Labor announced that the nation's unemployment rate declined from 6.0% in December to 5.7% in January. According to the report, retail businesses (many of which did not hire as many employees as usual over the holidays because of slower-than-normal sales) did a complete turnaround in January, adding 101,000 new positions during a traditionally slow sales period. Does this mean that the jobs recession of the past couple of years is over? Is now a good time to look for a quality job? Most Americans do not think so!"

Nearly eighty percent of those surveyed said that this is a bad time to find a good job in America. Go here for more details.

What are we to believe? That's an important question for all of us to ask at this time. Moreover, who are you to believe? My advice is to triangulate views, opinions, data and information from various sources. That is precisely why I started this web journal--people need better information and knowledge at this time.

I will add that the polls change over time, so it's important to follow them regularly. I do find them useful in my work however as one source of input.

As a rule of thumb, the greater the uncertainty about an issue or situation, different points of view become more important. It's human nature to try to dispel uncertainty by discounting information that conflicts with what you believe. By the way, our beliefs reflect our values, even more so than the information and knowledge we possess.

I think we should be doing just the opposite at this time. This is a time for empathetic knowledge and fair-minded thinking. We are very susceptible to our usual biases and new ones at this time. As they say, check out your assumptions. Listen. Compare your thoughts with others. Work at understanding other points of view.

How can economic developers help? Expectations matter at a time like this. We feel fragile and vulnerable as we look at the uncertainties before us. Hopefully economic developers are doing what they can to restore people's confidence that they can succeed in their work lives. I believe this is an important role that the economic development community can play during this time of uncertainty. We should be providing more and better information and knowledge to our businesses, community leaders and citizens. Your communication role has just tripled in importance.