Columbia Falls
I’ll be going to the Western Montana Fair in Missoula this weekend.
I figure it’ll cost about $50.
That's $40 for two ride wristbands, $6 for me to get in the gate, and $4 for food.
We’ll save $5 by taking our bikes or parking far away.
Anyways, it should be a fun time…I just wish it wasn’t so expensive.
Now, $50 might not seem like a lot…but for families that aren’t making a lot, it adds up.
Let’s not forget what most families are spending money on each month:
I’m sure I’m missing a few things, and that’s just the basics.
We could get into costs associated with having fun and living life, but for many families, once the basics are taken care of there’s not much left.
You didn’t hear any major media report it, but real wages are down too.
There was a big ballyhoo earlier in the year when it was reported real wages were up 4.2%.
When the new jobs report came out this week, however, it had buried in the back a startling statistic.
Real wages actually dropped 0.4% during the first quarter and then fell another 1.4% in the second quarter.
You heard right – wages are down nearly 2% this year alone.
Won’t hear the corporate media reporting that, however.
I figure it’ll cost about $50.
That's $40 for two ride wristbands, $6 for me to get in the gate, and $4 for food.
We’ll save $5 by taking our bikes or parking far away.
Anyways, it should be a fun time…I just wish it wasn’t so expensive.
Now, $50 might not seem like a lot…but for families that aren’t making a lot, it adds up.
Let’s not forget what most families are spending money on each month:
- Rent/mortgage
- Food costs
- Car costs
- Medical costs
- Insurance costs
- Internet/TV bill
- Phone bill
- Power bill
I’m sure I’m missing a few things, and that’s just the basics.
We could get into costs associated with having fun and living life, but for many families, once the basics are taken care of there’s not much left.
You didn’t hear any major media report it, but real wages are down too.
There was a big ballyhoo earlier in the year when it was reported real wages were up 4.2%.
When the new jobs report came out this week, however, it had buried in the back a startling statistic.
Real wages actually dropped 0.4% during the first quarter and then fell another 1.4% in the second quarter.
You heard right – wages are down nearly 2% this year alone.
Won’t hear the corporate media reporting that, however.
Still, despite making less for the same amount of work, many families are lucky – they have jobs.
If you’re up in the northwestern part of the state, you might not even have that anymore, or by the end of the year.
I’m talking about forestry and wood products jobs.
Back in 2013 forestry (along with fishing and agricultural services) made up 1% of our economy.
When you throw in manufacturing (including wood products) it’d be 5% of our economy.
We know from my article on honest numbers in the Montana forestry industry that 6,500 people had forestry jobs in Montana in 2011.
You have to remember, however, that this is a resource extraction industry, and that profits out-of-state rich men…as our extraction industries always have.
In this case, it’s the heads of Weyerhaeuser, people like this man:
Who's firing all the timber workers in Columbia Falls?
So that’s a bit on the timber industry in Montana today.
Lots of families up that way probably aren’t thinking of going to the fair this weekend.
They’re probably filled with worry about what life holds for them next.
So it goes in Montana.
Feel free to say what you think.
