A recession touches many hands

Jobs disappear. Sales shrink. Customers stay away. Phones don't ring.

By HELEN HUNTLEY, Personal Finance Editor
Published January 21, 2008

Framing contractor Lamar Sprouse poses at Art Line Framing in Largo. He says business slowed last summer and fall. "I'm not panicked, but I'm working very hard to bring some more money in."
	[John Pendygraft | Times]

ADVERTISEMENT "A lot of us cried ... it was a shock for everybody. Everyone who works there is like a big family," said Faye Keaton of St. Petersburg, who lost her job as machine operator at Film Technologies last week. [Martha Rial | Times] [Scott Keeler | Times] Becky Brooks of St. Petersburg has been looking for work since losing her job at Disney that she had just moved for. "I try to stay positive," she said. "I'm a survivor."

Are we in a recession or just teetering on the edge?

Economists are debating the point as conditions deteriorate: Foreclosures, bankruptcy filings and unemployment are rising. Florida reported Friday that the state's jobless rate rose to 4.7 percent last month from 3.3 percent a year ago. Real estate sales and stock prices are tanking.

That's the big picture and it's still murky. The little picture is a whole lot clearer. If you've lost your job or your income has fallen, the recession has arrived.

Here are some Tampa Bay residents for whom the slowdown in the economy is personal:

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Faye Keaton, 50, cried Wednesday when she lost the job she'd had for 15 years as an inspector and machine operator for a St. Petersburg window film manufacturer. The company, Film Technologies International, shut down, eliminating about 100 jobs.

"A lot of us cried," she said. "We knew things were slowing down, but they gave us positive hopes. Those fell through. It was a shock for everybody. Everyone who works there is like a big family. A lot of employees had been there 25 or 30 years."

On Thursday she was applying for unemployment and starting her job hunt with a mixture of optimism and trepidation. "It's been so long since I've had to look," she said. "I've heard jobs are hard out there."

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Lamar Sprouse, 54, sells vintage art online and in a Tarpon Springs antique mall. As a sideline, he frames art for a Largo gallery. "Nobody needs any of this," he said. "It's not like insurance or food. It's all discretionary spending."

Sprouse said that "last summer and fall everything slowed down at once. At the antique mall, people have backed off." So far, Internet sales to other states and countries are holding up, but Sprouse, who lives in Weeki Wachee, is concerned.

"I'm not panicked, but I'm working very hard to bring some more money in," he said. Many of the items he sells are priced at $5 to $25, which gives him hope they'll remain an impulse buy. "The question is, will people be spending small amounts to decorate their homes or putting it all on hold?" He says he's being cautious with his own spending until he has the answer.

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Diana Hudson, 24, asks the age-old question: "How am I supposed to get experience if no one will hire me?" Hudson graduated from Auburn University in August with a degree in apparel merchandising, design and production management. She has been searching for a job ever since.

Hudson, who lives in Tampa, says the economy has made her quest more difficult.

"If you're already struggling with sales, you're not going to be hiring new people."

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In the real estate business, the recession is more than a current problem; it's a long-running nightmare. Vernon Taylor, 59, has tapped his home equity to keep the doors open at VET Realty in Lutz. After handling about $12-million in deals in 2006, the company saw business drop in half last year. "It's a real struggle to pay the bills," Taylor said. A single part-timer has replaced his two full-time employees, and four of his 15 agents have dropped out of the business.

"You can forget the 'retire at 62' stuff," he said. "It gets scary when you start dipping into things you spent so many years saving for."

His hope: that Amendment 1 on this month's ballot, which makes the Save Our Homes tax break portable, will pass and stimulate home sales. "This is not the answer, but it's a first step."

* * *

Becky Brooks is determined to be bubbly despite five months hunting for work. The 41-year-old technical writer and Web designer snagged her dream job at Walt Disney World 18 months ago. The Mouse even covered moving costs for her and her pets from Ohio to Orlando. But six months later, Disney eliminated its technical writing department and Brooks headed to St. Petersburg to find work.

"I'm a survivor," she said as she searched online job sites recently at a Pinellas WorkNet office in St. Petersburg. A gig with a nonprofit organization didn't pan out; since then she's been doing some freelance work. She's optimistic that she'll find a job during the first quarter, when many firms traditionally bring on new workers. But burned by Disney and scrambling to land a new job, Brooks has news for newcomers to the state: "If they think this is a vacation state, they can think again."

* * *

Business started going downhill in April, said Larry R. Holly, 60, an independent insurance agent in St. Petersburg. "The whole industry is down," he said. "It's the worst I've seen in 25 years."

Stagnation in the real estate market is one reason. Where he was giving 20 to 25 quotes a week for new homeowners insurance a year ago - and selling about half of them - this year he's lucky to be asked for two or three quotes a week and sell one or two policies.

Another sign that people are feeling the pinch is the growing number of Holly's customers who fail to renew their auto insurance until they get a threatening letter from the state.

"Then they make a payment, but let it lapse until they hear from the state again," he said. "It's a never-ending scenario, but when money is tight, that's where you cut."

Times staff writer Kris Hundley contributed to this report. Helen Huntley can be reached at hhuntley@sptimes.com or 727 893-8230.

What to expect

Recessions are always personal. Here's how you might be affected in a recession:

If you're a worker: If your company's business suffers, your job might be in jeopardy or you might see your hours or commissions cut. Companies might hire fewer workers, which would mean fewer job openings.

If you're a retiree: Interest earnings on CDs and money market funds will fall if, as expected, the Federal Reserve lowers rates to try to stimulate the economy. Stock prices already have fallen and could go lower. The longer a recession lasts, the more dividends could be in jeopardy.

If you're in transition: A recession is a tough time to try to sell a house, find a job or liquidate a stock portfolio.

[Last modified January 20, 2008, 23:42:00]