Okay, so I don't have any hard data, but I am working with dozens of local businesses right now, so I believe i have the skinny.
For the last several weeks I have been organizing the Sandpoint Winter Carnival. Part of that is putting together the Winter ArtTrek: 80 North Idaho artists displaying art at 17 locations in Sandpoint, Idaho as part of the Winter Carnival. Also, we have been putting together the new event called Shop Around Sandpoint. Add to that working closely with 15 restaurants for Dine Around Sandpoint (www.DineAroundSandpoint.com).
I manage one of those restaurants every weekend - Dish Home Cooking - and I can say pretty clearly that while we in North Idaho may not have had a banner Christmas, it wasn't bad. Cedar Street Bridge, which was virtually empty, now has almost all the shops rented on the first floor. Restaurants were packed, and there was enough Christmas shopping that most of our retailers can make it to summer season.
Even Schweitzer is doing okay. The NOAA predicted that we (the Pacific NW) would have a warmer, drier season due to El Nino. That was a dire prediction for our award-winning ski resort. What has happened is similar to our businesses. So far, the snowfall has been good enough.
Even in real estate, things aren't so bad. I had a closing on Christmas Eve, and another closes in two days.
Guess things are turning around, not only in our national economy, but right here at home.
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Gary, thanks for the anecdotal info. There are certainly spots where the economy is doing better, like here in the Metropolitan, D.C. area (it helps that the Federal Government is taking over every industry it can get its hands on). There are still other areas that are experiencing a depression worse then the Great Depression (e.g., Detroit).