RV sales shift out of reverse

December 21, 2009, 09:43:24 am

From today's Chicago Tribune Business section -
'RV Sales Shift Out of Reverse, Point Economy Down Slow Road to Recovery'

Greg Burns

December 21, 2009

RV sales shift higher, hint at lengthy drive toward recovery; catching up with job creation may take more than 5 years. Before housing hit the skids, credit got crunched and the unemployment rate shot into double digits, the market for recreational vehicles started to plummet. Economists view RVs as an early indicator of where the economy is going, and, as it turned out, the rest of the planet followed motor homes and travel trailers right over the edge. Now comes word that RV sales have started picking up. Airstream Inc. is boosting production of its iconic caravans and expanding its work force by 50 percent. "Airstream is back on the road to recovery," Chief Executive Bob Wheeler declared. "We can expect to see significant growth." As decades go, the 2000s ended with such a bust that the 2010s almost can't help but look good in comparison. With the economy lurching from housing crisis to credit crisis to its ongoing job crisis, it might seem premature to declare a recovery in the offing. Yet most forecasters expect at least some growth ahead. And by a few measures, the good times already have started rolling again.
Just look at a chart of stock market performance since the bottom in March: Megabucks are being made, and no matter how hard a sheepish Wall Street tries to hide it, bonuses will be enormous. Conventional wisdom holds that the rich will get richer -- surprise! -- and everybody else in a winner-take-all economy will be downwardly mobile.
But if the assembly workers at Midwest RV plants can stage an unlikely comeback, anybody can. It's just going to take time.

See today's Chicago Tribune Business Section online for the full article. This link 'may' work -
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/columnists/chi-mon-outlook-econ-burns-dec21,0,6397669.column?page=1> ------------------

No wonder we're in such bad shape, even the economist can't count. We are ending year 9 of the decade and still a year away from the end on this decade. Losing battle I know . . . 'perception is everything.' --

Lee Zaborowski
07 Intrigue 12153