Today’s POV blog

In a quick review of three key indicators — borrowing, spending, and working — the word for the holidays seems to be “proceed with caution.”

This week the US Federal Reserve unanimously agreed to keep near zero the cost of borrowing money for an extended period.

According to TradingEconomics.com, the United States unemployment rate stands at 9.80 percent. (The labor force is defined as the number of people employed plus the number unemployed but seeking work. The non-labor force includes those who are not looking for work, those who are institutionalized, and those serving in the military.)

In the national employment report compiled by ADP, non-farm private employment was reduced by another 203,000 from September to October 2009. However, October was the seventh consecutive month in which the decline in employment was less than in the previous month.

ADP projects that despite recent indications that overall economic activity is stabilizing, employment, which usually trails overall economic activity, is likely to decline for at least a few more months.

In light of high unemployment rates, Gallup is reporting that Americans are planning to spend about $740 on gifts this year, down from $801 in 2008. 33% today, versus 35% a year ago, say they will spend less, while over half plan to spend about the same amount and 9% will spend more.

Though total sales are expected to be lower this holiday season, U.S. online sales are expected to rise eight percent and reach $44.7 billion. Big-box retailers such as Walmart and Amazon – those able to support discounts – are likely to see the best results.

A quick search on the web and you can find plenty of companies that are willing to pay you to blog. In fact, there are people who claim to earn a good living at doing nothing but writing blog reviews of products.

Using the keywords get paid to blog, you can easily find pages and pages of sites that connect manufacturers and marketing companies with bloggers. For many, the concept is that the blogger will write a positive review of a product and for that review, they will be paid. Sites such as HubPages do all the legwork in connecting the blogger to the manufacturer; an online clearing house.

Blog sites can earn additional revenue by placing Google AdSense, Amazon, and even eBay ads. Many blog formats, such as WordPress and Joomla, have widgets or automatic features for building out the site with content-relevant ad without any type of technological interaction from the blogger.

At Blogsvertise they tout that a blogger can generate extra income from their blog by mentioning and talking about vendor web sites, products, and services in blogs and journals. IZEA helps advertisers find bloggers who will promote products and services through social networks and media properties alongside traditional display advertising and text links. They also feature sponsored-conversation campaigns through independent blogs, Twitter, and Facebook status updates.

If you think this all seems a bit underhanded, you’re not alone. FOXNews.com reported today that the FTC is set to regulate promotional blogging, thereby requiring writers to clearly disclose any freebies or payments they get from companies for reviewing their products or services.

The FTC is serious about this. As of 1 December 2009, bloggers caught violating the rules, could be fined up to $11,000 per violation. Bloggers and the advertisers they represent could also face injunctions and be ordered to reimburse consumers for financial losses if they are found to have blogged inappropriate product reviews.

While they must disclose that they are being paid to review the product or service, the FTC has not outlined how that disclosure must be presented.

Some bloggers are concerned that the FTC will hold them responsible for casual opinion postings. In the FOXNews.com article, blogger Linsey Krolik said she’s always disclosed any freebies she’s received on products she writes about, but has stepped up her efforts since last fall. She said she adds a notice at the end of a post, “very clear in italics or bold or something — this is the deal. It’s not kind of buried.”