Recovery at a Snail’s Pace

The word economy — as in “the sluggish economy” — comes across as an abstraction. But an economy is made up of people, and the Island’s economy more than ever seems to be separating into two groups of people farther and farther apart.

Tisbury was one blight on a largely positive statewide jobs report released in late September: “Over the year, unemployment rates were lower in twenty-one areas and up seasonally in the Tisbury area.” What does that mean, really? It means almost two hundred people in that town alone are looking for work and cannot find it. About six-hundred-and-fifty people Islandwide are on the jobless rolls, and certainly there are others who would like work but have given up, or who do not qualify for state unemployment benefits. Others have some work but not as much as they would like, or need.

Presenting an overview of the Island’s economy, the executive director of the Martha’s Vineyard Chamber of Commerce this week spelled out what sluggish means for some of our friends and neighbors: construction jobs are worst hit and unlikely to return too soon; real estate brokers have seen more than half their commission income wiped away.

This recession is, technically, over — but as Ms. Gardella said, why haven’t we noticed? Some people have. Islanders whose work directly serves the Vineyard’s seasonal residents seem already to have weathered the worst of the recession. There were many more visitors to the Island this summer than last, with more people eating out, and more staying overnight at more luxurious accommodations. The indicators mainly point in a positive direction.

Yet this will be the Vineyard’s third off-season of the recession, and some will not be able to make it through to next summer, when the Island’s economic engine returns and needs them as tradesmen or shop staff. While slow growth may be the economy’s new normal, growth in the gap between those with a lot and those without much should concern us all, including the many year-rounders in the middle.