The economy is topic number one on everyone’s mind. Alabama is feeling the full brunt of the recession, with the state’s unemployment rate at its highest levels since the early 1980s. Things have been so difficult that it has almost bankrupted Alabama’s most populous county, caused proration in our education budget, caused an FDIC takeover of the state’s second largest bank, and created a historically high foreclosure rate.

Yet, even with so much bad economic news there is some reason to believe that things are stabilizing.