Economic Outlook Better the 2nd Half of 2009?

Interesting News Headline:

Job boom could be coming soon
Economists at the University of Michigan predict that 3.5 million jobs will be created in the next two years.

With unemployment benefits being requested by a little more than 430,000 people this week, and the housing/airline and auto industries feeling the crunch, it's hard to imagine we'll see a respite in economic woes in the near future. Even with gas prices falling a bit, the reflief won't hit our pockets anytime soon - high gas prices are here to stay. However, if we think back to 2001, after the fall of the internet "Boom" we saw an economic downturn and we did eventually recover. How many people did you know that lost money in the stock market? I avoided a layoff around that time by switching companies. A year and half later, the plan led to another layoff I couldn't avoid. If you've never been laid off in your life, kudo's to you - you either have a valuable skill set, you know the right people, or you have been in the right place at the right time. I kind of think it's a right of passage - everyone experiences it at some point in your life.

The market is cyclical. It always comes back around. I'd love to see an upturn the later half of 2008 and will expect to see relief the later part of 2009. I'm naturally optomistic, and have learned that a little caution never hurt anyone. Until then, gotta remember to save energy, buy discount, and think smart. :)