We live in a suburb of Portland, Oregon, and there are some slowdowns, but not as much as other areas might be experiencing. I have noticed more "For Lease" signs in windows. Homes are having a much harder time selling. Most people are thinking twice before driving somewhere. Some have started riding bikes or taking the bus. Price of gas, of course, is continuing to go up, and yet I still see lots of people driving huge SUVs and trucks.

Sheryl

My second job has lost sales in the last 6 weeks and laid everybody off. We make pot inserts for nurseries. Sure needed that extra money for price increases everywhere. My first job is in a doctor's office so it is always more patients than we can see on any given day. We are barely breaking even there since most insurances have decreased what they are paying and we write the rest off. No raises or bonus this year. Most patients won't pay their copays or balances but our doctors will not refuse to see them like most doctors around here do.

Our area has really been hit hard the past few years. All the GM plants are now gone and so are all the high paying jobs. We count our blessings everyday that we were on the right end of all of it. Hubby got to retire with 42 years in. He worked until they closed the doors. We have alot of empty homes sitting here, too. I wonder when we are going to wake up and stop sending jobs to China and other places abroad.. So sad..

Susie

Houses are still selling here. After spending a week in CA, I was surprised to see so many sold signs here when I returned. A house near me sold after just a few weeks on the market but it is a smaller home and sold for $109k. The most expensive houses selling here are in the $300k range.

Delaware is doing all right, but not great. It all depends on whether you live in the upper, middle or lower part of the state.

Lower part has all the beaches, so right now it's booming again with summer. Middle part has lost another Kraft plant and in the upper GM is closing a plant.

House sales are pretty much like everywhere in the country. We have two houses in our development that have been on the market for over two years now. I really feel sorry for those folks.

Susie53 I couldn't agree with you more. I get so tired of trying to get "tech" support and have to spend hours on end trying to get the "tech" to understand the problem. Some companies don't even have sites in the U.S. anymore which is really sad.

We're getting FiOS next month and one of my first questions was where is the support center located. The sales person said that was the number one question they receive all the time. I felt great when he said it's located here in the states.

Thanks for the replies. It's my expectation (based on some research and reading) that gas could hit $7 a gallon before this year ends. I think that's going to cause some reverberations in the American economy.

On a final note, we went out to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner the other night. We've been there maybe 10 times in the last two years and Monday night was the first time that there was NO wait and there were many empty tables.

Rose

Here, in northern mn, is probably not much diffrent that other areas. What I notice most (besides gas) is groceries. about a year or so ago, my grocery trip was between 40-50 $, for just general things, then it started to creep up to between 50-60 $ this past week it was over $70. It is just the two of us older folk, and we can cut back if we have to, I feel so sorry for families raising kids now days. I remember how my kids could empty a kitchen in a flash. It must be tough for young families. Dottie

I went grocery shopping at Walmart yesterday,,,hubby wanted apples. There wasnt an apple in the store. I didnt see the produce guy so I asked at the register. She said the delivery people had quit cause of gas prices and they are getting a different one.Seemed weird to not see apples!!

I've noticed some of the prices at the restaurants have gone up, but there is no decrease in traffic or people in Wal-Mart (my #1 stop). The restaurants are crowded like they've always been. I don't see any change here. Now, if I was trying to sell my house I might see the difference, but so far, so good.

Pretty sucky here.

The auto industry is the main bread and butter around here, between Ford, GM, and Chryslers and all the feeder plants that go with them. Cut backs, plant closures, layoffs.

We also have the casino but they aren't doing as well as expected, so layoffs there too.

We have a lot of nurses that work over the border in the States, and many of them are feeling hard times because of the close exchange rates (good for shopping but at the same time like taking a pay cut for these people) and the high cost of gas, expounded by the long idling and wait times at the tunnel and bridge.

The school boards here are talking about layoffs as well.

Companies are closing all over (including the one that I was working for). We had a few tech call centers move in but the pay is dismal, the pace is impossible, and they expect you to sell service agreements and could care less if you resolve issues.

As for housing, it is a buyers market here. Although, I am seeing more sold signs lately so maybe that is brisking up a bit - but I am seeing a LOT of reduced stickers on real estate signs.

My area of Texas is booming...if we have any slow downs, I don't know about them...the parking lots are full and they are building all over the place.