1. The Humboldt County Economy in 2009 By Erick Eschker Presented to Eureka Old Town Rotary Club December 2, 2008

2. The Humboldt County Economy in 2009 By Erick Eschker Department of Economics Humboldt State University Humboldt Economic Index www.humboldt.edu/~indexhum

3. Humboldt Economic Index Sponsors

4. Six Sectors and Composite Energy Lumber-based manufacturing Employment Hospitality Retail Housing Composite

5. Gas Prices are down, and will stay lower as the Recession continues

6. County Unemployment Rates 3 rd highest since Jan. 1994

7. Employment has started to fall

8. Biggest drops in Construction and Financial Services (included real estate agents and lenders)

9. Leading Indicators: Claims for Unemployment Insurance

10. Help Wanted

11. Housing Sales

12. Housing Prices

13. Foreclosures Foreclosures in Humboldt County have gone from record lows to record highs

15. How far does Housing have to fall?

16. Inflation Adjusted Prices slowly falling

17. Price to Rent ratio falling

18. Overall Economic Activity is down this year

19. National News Recession officially started December, 2007 Exports slowing due to recessions abroad Record or near record lows on US Treasury Bonds (flight to safety) Credit Crunch (credit cards and other lending)

20. State News Budget Crisis $11.2bil Deficit Governor calls for decreased spending on CSU, CalWorks, Medical and increased employer unemployment contributions

21. Uncertainty for Humboldt County How bad will national recession be? When will credit markets stabilize? Effect of past and future Bailouts/Stimulus packages Will state employment be cut significantly?

22. The Humboldt County Economy in 2009 By Erick Eschker Department of Economics Humboldt State University Humboldt Economic Index www.humboldt.edu/~indexhum