U.S. Incomes Tumbled in 2009

From the Wall Street Journal:

Personal income took a hit in most of the U.S. last year with the only gains coming from government support, according to new data from the Commerce Department.

Income declined in 223 metro areas last year, increased in 134 and was unchanged in nine regions. Even though prices declined last year — down 0.2% from a year earlier as measured by the national price index for personal consumption expenditures — incomes fell even more. On average, personal income dropped 1.8% in 2009, following a 2.7% increase in 2007.

In areas that saw gains, most of the increases came from the government in one way or another. In 77 of the 134 regions that saw incomes increase, the growth came from transfer receipts such as unemployment benefits or Social Security payments. In most of the remaining 57 metro areas, the gains were concentrated in the government sector, the Commerce Department said, including strong growth in military earnings.

Ask-A-Career-Coach: How Do You Position Yourself for Two Different Careers?

Last week one of my favorite blogs, The Glass Hammer, posted an interesting article by Caroline Ceniza-Levine with advice on how to position yourself for two different careers. Check out a snippet of the in-depth article below, or head on over to The Glass Hammer.com for the full text.

I had a client who had started a business that needed a cash infusion. At the same time, recognizing that cash flow was an issue, he started to explore going back in-house (he had been a successful banker before starting his own shop). He needed to position himself as both an entrepreneur and an employee without diluting either focus or confusing his market. How do you position yourself for two different careers?

I see this conundrum more and more. On the entrepreneur/employee front, more people are starting side businesses or picking up consulting projects. But even when one is committed to traditional employment, jobs are wider in scope and you may find yourself with a role that is a compilation of several different functions. I reconnected with an old hire of mine from my media days, and she was straddling PR and marketing in the same firm. Consequently, she was unsure how to talk about both without diminishing her experience in either.

Positioning is framed by two things: who you are; and what you are targeting. So the above conundrum seems to revolve around the first half – confusion on how to express who you are. But it really is more about the second – describing who you are in the context of your target. If you are sure about your target, you can easily find a way to talk about your two (or more) sides in a way that adds value to your target and therefore makes you the logical choice, not the outlier.

When you have multiple targets (as in my banker client who was targeting investors and prospective employers) this is trickier, but still not impossible. We worked on a story where entrepreneurship was a logical extension of his career but not the only one. He created a message that focused on the current growth stage of his business and how the fork in the road involved either investment or employment and that he embraced both possibilities. Most importantly, everything was framed in a positive and empowered way so that his targets, whether investors or employers, could see that he was proactive about his choices.

Continue reading at The Glass Hammer.com…

Personal Income Drops Across the Country

From the Wall Street Journal:

Personal income in 42 states fell in 2009, the Commerce Department said Thursday.

Nevada's 4.8% plunge was the steepest, as construction and tourism industries took a beating. Also hit hard: Wyoming, where incomes fell 3.9%.

Incomes stayed flat in two states and rose in six and the District of Columbia. West Virginia had the best showing with a 2.1% increase. In Maine, Kentucky and Hawaii, increased government benefits, such as unemployment insurance and Social Security, offset drops in earnings and property values.

Nationally, personal income from wages, dividends, rent, retirement plans and government benefits declined 1.7% last year, unadjusted for inflation. One bright spot: As the economy recovered, personal income was up in all 50 states in the fourth quarter compared with the third. Connecticut, again, had the highest per capita income of the 50 states at $54,397 in 2009. Mississippi ranked lowest at $30,103.