I've still got a job, but 8 of the people in my department (or about 30%) were laid off last Monday. We still hadn't recovered from last year's layoffs (there are a couple open positions in the department, but there's also been a hiring freeze), so that probably affects how I feel current economic conditions. There are around half as many people in IT as when I started there in 2002. Our RIFs were early, but the rest of the organization will probably go through the process within a couple weeks -- as you can imagine, the mood is very insecure.

It seems like inflation indexes are being held down by falling prices in the big-ticket items that people can put off buying until they feel more secure, but the day-to-day necessities, like groceries seem to still be up despite decreases in fuel prices.