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While you may be feeling sorry for yourself now that you've been laid off from your job and you're spending afternoons watching reality TV reruns on your couch, at least your couch isn't located in Dubai. The Times reports today on just how bad the situation has become in the former construction capital of the world. At this time last year Americans were jumping on jets to move to the boomtown, attracted by cushy jobs, fancy digs (and perhaps tasty Middle Eastern cuisine). Now? Not so much.

Many of these people have since lost their jobs—many of which were in real estate and finance—and the city is emptying out. In fact, people are leaving so quickly that the parking lot at the Dubai Airport has 3,000 abandoned cars left behind by fleeing foreigners, many with apology notes taped to the windshield. The good news is that if you still live in Dubai and you're still employed, and you're looking for a great deal on a 2007 Lexus, talk to Mohammed outside Terminal 2.

Laid-Off Foreigners Flee as Dubai Spirals Down [NYT]
Escape to Dubai [NYM]