Scared still

Economy | Uncertain of the costs that Washington may hit them with next, many employers are too frightened to hire | Jamie Dean

Associated Press/Photo by Paul Sancya

FLETCHER, N.C.—When President Barack Obama strode to a podium in the White House Rose Garden on Nov. 6, he offered a rosy response to a bleak statistic: With the unemployment rate in America soaring above 10 percent for the first time since 1982, the president touted government interventions like stimulus programs and lengthening unemployment benefits and declared, "I'm confident we're moving in the right direction."

Nearly 500 miles south in Fletcher, N.C., Gary Scharf isn't so sure. The once-successful small business owner has been job-hunting for 11 months, and he is moving his family into their second rental home in North Carolina since selling a sprawling home in a Florida gated community a year ago. After 20 years of managing and owning businesses, Scharf thinks increased spending won't solve problems created by irresponsible spending: "I think we're moving in the wrong direction."