Tennesseans see little improvement in economy

Home-care worker Kesha Solomon-Knighten hasn’t noticed much of a change in the American economy over the past year.

“It’s about the same,” said Solomon-Knighten, who was going into the Nashville Public Library’s Southeast branch in Antioch with her 5-year-old daughter, Rhian, on Thursday. “There are still no jobs. Gas is still high. Food is still going up. Income isn’t going up.”

A new Vanderbilt Poll found most Tennesseans feel the same way. Fifty-two percent of respondents to the statewide poll said they and their families are in about the same shape financially as they were a year ago, while 36 percent feel they’re worse off and 11 percent feel they’re doing better.

The outlook for a year from now is a little better, but not much, the statewide poll found. Nearly 27 percent of respondents said they expect to be better off in 12 months, while more than 20 percent said they’ll probably be in worse shape and 47 percent said they expect their position to be about the same.

“The turnaround’s taking a long time to help people,” said poll co-director Josh Clinton, associate professor of political science at Vanderbilt University and co-director of the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions. “Most people think there’s not going to be a noticeable change.”

Unemployment increased in Davidson County and surrounding counties in April, the last month for which the state has released data. Davidson’s unemployment rate hit 8.8 percent, and Rutherford, Sumner and Wilson counties also topped 8 percent.

Frederick Hamer, who was fishing in the lake at Shelby Park in East Nashville on Thursday morning, said he’s been unemployed since his last construction job ended in February. Hamer, 57, said he has a bad back and hopes to move into another, less physically demanding field, like housekeeping.

“I think it’s in a disaster,” he said of the economy.

John Vaughn, who was fishing nearby, said he was disturbed by the high costs of gas and groceries. Vaughn, 64, used to wax and strip floors, but now he’s on disability and is trying to survive on a fixed income.

“Gas prices are killing me,” he said. “It seems like they’re going down, then the next thing you know, they’re going back up.

“I wish it would get better. The only thing I can do is pray about it.”

William H. Sloan, a retiree who lives in Hendersonville, seems more financially secure than Vaughn. But he said he had noticed the rising costs of goods and services compared to flat wages for many workers.

“You know salaries aren’t going up,” Sloan said. “Everything’s going out of sight.”

The outlook appears bleak to Pat Pickett, who was visiting the Southeast branch library. She blames the government for bailing out certain industries while doing little for the common man.

“It’s in the tank,” Pickett said. “There doesn’t seem to be any help for people except the banks and the car industry. I don’t see any raises. I don’t see other people being able to keep up like they used to.”

Some see improvement

But others feel the economy is coming back, and there are some signs they’re right, like General Motors’ decision last week to invest $32 million in its Spring Hill plant.

Todd Cantrell, 48, said he’s “cautiously optimistic” about the economy’s recovery but fears the news media are “scaring people too much.”

“If it does relapse, that will be a part of it,” he said on his way out of a coffee shop near his East Nashville home.

Cantrell spends one week out of three traveling as an advance man for touring Broadway shows. While he’s seen small audiences for Mary Poppins in cities like Columbus, Ohio, and Sacramento, Calif., he feels Nashville is picking up steam.

“People are spending money on entertainment and housing,” he said. “Those are good indicators for the economy.”

He said he encouraged his partner to put the bonus in savings, however, in case the economy goes south again.

Karen Light, director of merchandising for Simplicity Creative Group in Antioch, said she also feels good these days, based on her employer’s recent activity.

Simplicity Creative Group, which sells craft products like knitting needles, is building two buildings at its 75,000-square-foot distribution facility, and it just hired two people.

“We’re doing really well,” Light, 34, said on her way out of the Target on Cane Ridge Road.

Hannah Cannarozzi, 23, said she has mixed feelings a year after moving to Middle Tennessee from Charlotte, N.C. Her husband got a promotion at the Renaissance Nashville Hotel, where he’s a chef. But she has struggled for the past six weeks to find a second part-time job to supplement her part-time work at Pet Care Specialists in Cool Springs.

“I’ve interviewed, but there’s so much competition,” she said. “But as long as he’s got a job, we’re OK.”

Contact Michael Cass at 615-259-8838 or mcass@ten nessean.com