Bright signs shroud pains Business Insider Rich Gillette

The Dayton metropolitan area is prospering from a good economy, adding several thousand jobs in the past year and a hot housing market.

The April job numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed the Dayton area added more than 9,000 jobs in the past year, compared to Cleveland or Toledo which lost jobs in the that same time period.

Columbus and Cincinnati added the most jobs in the past year with more than 18,000 and 10,000, respectively.

Dayton area home sales numbers showed sales were up 7 percent in April compared to the same time last year. Last year was the best year for homes sales in the past decade.

The sales volume for those homes was $228.3 million, up 10 percent from the same time last year. The increase in sales has happened despite a tight inventory of new homes and the slowed pace of new home construction.

Despite the job numbers and housing market, two recent reports show an alarming number of people in this area and throughout the United States are still struggling to get by.

A new Federal Reserve survey of more than 12,200 Americans about their finances and a new United Way report on financial hardship — show how unstable life remains for a large number of people. Here of some of the key findings:

Forty percent of American adults don’t have enough savings to cover a $400 emergency expense such as an unexpected medical bill, car problem or home repair.

Forty-three percent of households aren’t earning enough to cover the combined costs of housing, food, child care, health care, transportation and a cellphone, according to the United Way study. Researchers looked at the data by county to adjust for lower costs in some parts.

More than a quarter of adults skipped necessary medical care last year because they couldn’t afford it.

Twenty-two percent of adults aren’t able to pay all of their bills every month.

Only 38 percent of non-retired Americans think their retirement savings is “on track.”

The reports suggest the U.S. economy isn’t nearly as strong as statistics such as the unemployment rate and the GDP growth rate suggest.

Watch what you return

Are you an impulsive shopper who can’t make up your mind on what you buy? Amazon is reportedly banning customers like you who return too many items.

Reporter Kara Driscoll reported this week that the e-commerce retailer had banned customers who returned items. Dozens of people have complained on Twitter, Facebook and other online forums that Amazon closed their accounts without warning or explanation.

Rich Gillette is the Dayton Daily News business editor. He can be reached at (937) 225-0623 or on Twitter @ richgillette