As another work week draws to a close, I'd like to share an article I wrote for this week's Barnstable Patriot.  My brother-in-law is an associate editor of this weekly paper on Cape Cod, working at keeping the fourth estate alive on the upper Cape.

The article is about an interview I did with Don White, a folk singer from Lynn, Massachusetts.  I've been a fan for many years, and have always been curious about how he's managed to keep himself motivated to pursue his musical career ( for decades) while continuing to work a day job installing security systems.  Although Don principally earns a living from his music now, doing occasional contract security work on the side, he's earned the luxury of focusing most of his energy on what he loves through practice and persistence.

My conversation with Don got me thinking about how many of us harbor desires to break free of the 9-to-5 in order to pursue more creative or personally fulfilling pursuits.  Most of us aren't willing to make the sacrifices of financial security or time required to make those dreams a reality like Don White did.

Ed Maroney, my brother-in-law, did.  He made the break from a secure hospital administration job to becoming a journalist on the Cape many years ago, pursuing a dream that began for him as a very young man.  Kudos to you, Ed.  You've done good work.

Today's guest blog post is courtesy of Dr. Robert Yerex, Chief Economist at Kronos.  You can find more information on the Kronos Retail Labor Index and details about the most recent results here. You can listen to a podcast conversation with Robert on "the new normal" here.

The New Normal, with High Unemployment

The past year saw a general stabilization in a number of important aspects of the consumer retail market. Many of the changes wrought during and immediately after the recession are likely to be permanent, at least until the next significant change.

This figure gives us a glimpse of this emerging new normal. Retail sales, represented by the width of the line, have steadily though slowly increased since the “bottom” of the recession in mid-2009, as has industrial production of consumer goods. What has not returned are the jobs. The color scale clearly shows that the unemployment rate remains stubbornly high.

During 2010, the most important changes in the retail / consumer economy included:

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