While the media and corporations inundate the public with "Greatest Economy EVER!!" stories, the reality is quite the opposite. Layoffs are rampant, but purposefully, intentionally hidden and covered up with a myriad of tactics.
Everything from "Performance Reviews" which are designed to be so stringent that practically nobody passes them, and many are fired with no severance, to quiet, weekly layoffs of a dozen here, dozen there so as not to create any publicity, and many more tactics. Doubt this? Just spend some time reading this site's "Latest Posts" section, where you will see no shortage of layoffs in every sector, every major corporation.
Things are not as they seem, and with store closings at all time highs and going higher, one would think people would figure this out, but denial is strong. Most want to believe the lies they are told about how great things are.