NP: Real Time with Bill Maher

I've been saying for months that the back-to-school season would likely mark the start of a real recovery in the retail sector that would likely grow into the holiday season and help right the economic ship heading into next year. If my blog search is any indication, I apparently just haven't been saying it here. But trust me, it's part of the "I know what I'm talking about" pitch in a lot of my cover letters.

Anyway, guess what? September saw the first year-over-year consumer spending increase since last summer. Not a big increase, but let's walk before we can run here.

Watching the holiday numbers is going to be very, very interesting. My feeling all along is that we'll start to see jobs picking up in advertising and online marketing, in particular, throughout the fourth quarter, which will then get 2010 off to a reasonably good start. This is why I haven't been all that worried about job prospects despite a pretty dry summer, but that's also because I'm fortunate to have the resources to be able to get away with not worrying.