Contributing Author: Steve Klees, Senior Vice President, Specialty Channels, EFG Companies
As the nation continues to recover economically, we’ve seen the subprime market steadily expand. The debate rages on whether to slow or halt this expansion before a subprime bubble forms. Be that as it may, more people who experienced hardship over the last few years are returning to dealerships looking to replace their vehicle, or get into a vehicle for the first time.
As you evaluate your institutions’ future, it’s time to step back and take a deeper look at what consumers are dealing with. Yes, the unemployment rate has dropped, but that does not mean everyone who lost their job in the recession has returned to a comparable position. The most recent report from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics states that 6.6 million Americans are classified as “involuntary part-time workers” – those working part-time jobs due to economic reasons.
Now, many Americans who once had, or believed in the future of stable, full-time positions can now only find part-time work, or work for much less pay than they previously received or expected. College graduates are still the most underemployed of all age groups.