Back in 2010, few economists, if any, anticipated that the negative impact of the Great Recession would last well into 2013.  Yet more than three years after the downturn officially ended in December 2009, only about half of the nine million jobs that were lost have been restored.

Recent news stories also revealed that the Federal Reserve underestimated the severity of the subprime mortgage lending crisis in 2007 and predicted the economy would not be seriously affected.  However, since the end of 2006, U.S. households have lost $7 trillion in home equity.  Unemployed homeowners discovered to their dismay that their fallback – selling their homes to relocate for new or better job opportunities — disappeared as the value of their houses declined, often leaving their homes underwater or worth less than the mortgages owed on them.

When the experts do not get the big picture right on the economy, how can individual workers figure out what to do in today’s job market?    Click here to read the rest of my February Stay Thirsty column.