Personal Income decreased in practically every state in the nation in 2009. For most states, such outright declines in personal income had not been seen since state income records began. Personal income fell nationally as well, for the first time in six decades.

If you grew up in Arizona you probably remember learning about the five C's, an easy way of remembering the major components of the state's economy at the time.

Although we have not yet seen sustained employment growth at the national level, labor markets in more and more states are showing improvement over the same period last year.

As the saying goes, "If you ask 20 economists about the economic outlook, you'll get 21 scenarios for what lies ahead." The point is that economists famously disagree.

On August 16 the Japanese Cabinet Office announced that Japan's second-quarter GDP was for the first time smaller than China's. A media frenzy ensued, and analysis firms raced to predict when China would surpass the U.S.

When the first quarter ended, many analysts projected the subsequent months would bring even stronger gains in Gross Domestic Product. But the high hopes of economy watchers for acceleration in growth were dashed by reality when the U.S.

A cynic might say that information systems consultants shortchange their clients. They can, for example, promise more than they deliver. Or they can tarry and delay. Or they might ask, on the back end, to bill for "unanticipated" work.

More state labor markets are pulling out of the economic slump created by the recession. As recently as March of this year, only two states (North Dakota and Alaska) were adding nonfarm jobs year-over-year. By May, the number of states posting year-to-year growth had improved to an even dozen.

The team from the Department of Information Systems that created decision-support software to help distribute crucial H1N1 vaccine knew that for this project, speed trumped all other protocols.

Optimism about the strength of the recovery took another hit when the June employment numbers were released recently. Economy-watchers had expected at least modest growth, but seasonally adjusted nonfarm employment fell by 125,000 jobs from May.