With President Ford and elements of Congress in confrontation over anti-inflation and anti-recession moves, it’s hard for the layman here in Utah (and probably anywhere else) to know exactly who’s right and what program will best serve the nation’s interests.
But one thing seems apparent: The people of this country need to abandon the crying towel, overcome the mob psychology of pessimism, and buck up their faith in America.
In troubled waters, we need, of course, to face up to facts. The layoffs, energy shortages, rising prices, et al are serious. Answers need to be found and found rapidly. Too long those with the power and responsibility to find the answers have dallied.
Yet we need to fuse prudence with realism and combine these with faith in the future promise of America. We need to put passing troubles into historic perspective and move forward with the future as we have done through wars, booms and recessions in the past.
It is hopeful here in Utah to realize that our state is a lot better off than the country in, general. Historically, Utah has trailed the national average in employment percentages. But now the figures look good for the state by comparison.
”We’ve yet to see rapidly rising unemployment here,” said a Utah Employment Security Division spokesman the other day.
The last figure released on the national jobless rate stood at 7.1 per cent for December. The unemployment rate in Utah for that month was only 5.8 per cent, down from 6.1 for December 1973.
“We had 3799 persons file initial unemployment insurance claims for the week ending Jan. 11, but that was below the 3823 new jobless figure for the second week of January 1974,” said the spokesman. However, the division had 17,553 continuing claims, up from 14,883 for the same period a year ago.
A total of 447,200 Utahns were employed in non-agriculture jobs – up 18,100 in 1974. Thus, unemployment is higher by 2670 persons, but the state showed a 4.4 per cent gain in over-all jobs.
Here in Central Utah we can be thankful that Geneva Works, our biggest industry, is producing at a relatively high level. Other industries and businesses also have held up well considering all things.
We suppose that if enough people began saying the sky is green, eventually we might come to believe it really is. This is exactly what some fear is happening to our economy today as so many people sing the blues.
The Herald believes it is time for Americans to reverse this line of thinking and search and work for signs of recovery from current economic maladjustments.
Inflation is devastating and recession disturbing, to be sure. But the door to the way out isn’t closed. Charles F. Kettering once remarked: “I am interested in the future because it is where I shall spend the rest of my life.” All of us are. Let’s face it with some degree of confidence which certainly is one of the RX’s for recovery.