• One local, superb breakfast and coffee house had to lay-off a morning staff cook -- they now have just one full-time morning cook -- due to decreased demand for take-out orders. Like many other breakfast eateries, they've experienced a decline in sales from a major source of their revenue: day laborers and other personnel who work on construction sites.

A structural change among the "invisibles"

And if after reading the above you've seen the economic significance, you've experienced the eureka moment, as well. We know that retail sales and consumer spending have declined as the recession continued, but what perhaps many haven't thought about is the impact of the invisible economy, including undocumented workers, on the U.S. economy.

"Many of those undocumented workers have left the country after the jobs dried up," economist Peter Dawson said. "So in addition to seeing a cutback in spending by U.S. citizens, the economy is also being hurt by the disappearance of consumption by undocumented workers. It might seem like a minor amount, but it is major in the food/retail sector. The invisible economy gaveth and now it taketh away."

Further, Dawson said the above trend, which particularly affects the West/Southwest and Northeast, will make it harder for U.S. retail sales to rebound, once the economy begins to recover. "We'll be starting the recovery with a much smaller pool of consumers," Dawson said. "No one knows exactly how big the invisible economy was, but it was significant, in sales terms."

Economic Analysis: The above provides more evidence of the structural, not just cyclical, nature of the recession. In addition to more-frugal habits displayed by U.S. citizens, the economy also will likely contain fewer undocumented workers to consume goods -- which speaks to the need to find other engines of growth.