Jobs go and go, but the recession just lingers

Patience may still be a virtue. But it is not an inexhaustible one.

Not when unemployment has taken up residence in the stratosphere just below 10 percent -- and is stubbornly refusing to vacate when the sheriff knocks.

How much longer will this many people be out of work? And when the jobs return, what kind of salaries will they pay? Is the middle class an official endangered species?

A friend of mine was laid off this week. He worked for 12 years in a high-tech job in western Suffolk County. These were supposed to be the new, expanding jobs, the ones the experts call "post-industrial." His severance will carry the mortgage for maybe four months.

Two years ago, as the economy was tumbling into deep recession, lots of people were being axed. That's not as common now, thank God. But it hasn't stopped. Obviously. These days, even the cheeriest signs are mixed.

The feds just released another round of employment numbers. They are shaped like a seesaw. Government jobs went down. Private jobs went up. And the official unemployment rate hung tight at 9.6 percent.

So how long will we be stuck on this playground?

Eventually, things will get better. They always do. But what's the human toll between now and then? The recession is entering its adolescence, and nobody seems to know. Republicans, Democrats -- neither party has fresh ideas.

And one more friend is dividing a severance check into mortgage payments and not liking how the equation comes out. 

Asked and unanswered: Is it too many McMansions or too few decent-paying jobs? What keeps Suffolk at the top of the state's pre-foreclosure list? . . . What if 10-10-10 came and went and nothing changed at all? . . . Who has the toughest job at the Hofstra gubernatorial debate? The audio engineer, right? You ever try balancing the mic levels for seven loudmouths? . . . What do they mean "Hollywood comes to LI for the Hamptons Film Fest"? Isn't half of Hollywood ALWAYS in the Hamptons? . . . Doesn't Columbus need a new PR rep? His official weekend has arrived again and hardly anybody's talking about HIM . . . Who knew the latest fashion trend would be scary-movie masks for armed robbers? The Dunkin' Donuts stickup man in Farmingdale chose a little black number from the "Scream" line . . . They want to privatize Long Island Bus? Isn't public transit public because so many private companies bailed out? . . . "The Avengers" are coming to Long Island? Wait, it's just "The Avengers" movie being shot here? Then never mind. I was getting excited about actual avengers for a minute there . . . Service cuts, ticket increases -- and the good news at the LIRR is -- what? There is no good news in a budget crunch like this.

E-mail ellis@henican.com

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