Untold victims of the recession are finally seeing some signs of economic hope: the ability to dump that no-good, cheating, never-notices-your-haircut spouse. The divorce rate, which federal figures show dropped by 7 percent between 2006 and 2009, looks like it’s back on the rise, with one D.C. firm reporting a pickup of 20 to 25 percent. When it comes to market barometers, the divorce index may hold much more weight than lipstick or hemlines. After all, big-ticket items, like dissolving a financial partnership, require more of an investment. Now that banks are lending again and the stock market’s rebounding, there’s enough credit to buy out a spouse’s share of a home or pad a savings account so you don’t have to pretend that maybe things will work out just to get someone to split the credit card bill. But we’ll know the economy has truly recovered when this current wave of divorcees starts splurging on ostentatious second weddings.
