We've been throwing around the word recession in connection with the US economy for some time now — everything from recession-proof jobs to recession-proof beauty is common vocabulary. However, in a statement released just today, the National Bureau of Economic Research confirmed that the economy has been in a recession since December 2007.
The last time the economy was in a recession was 2001, after the tech bubble burst. Members of the Business Cycle Dating Committee explained the requirements for a recession in a statement.
A recession is a significant decline in economic activity spread across the economy, lasting more than a few months, normally visible in production, employment, real income, and other indicators. A recession begins when the economy reaches a peak of activity and ends when the economy reaches its trough.
L'Autre Chose
Ben Sherman
Dessous
not surprised
1This is not at all surprising!!
2Yeah, I didn't know it wasn't official yet...I'm definitely not surprised.
3Michigander here... it's been obvious for a veeeery long time here!
4I just shat my pants from the shock.
5everyone's been spending less for a while... I think we knew. But isn't it also just part of the game? the economy has ups and downs, we ain't broke
6i'm not surprised at all by this - and the fact that people are only realizing that it's official now - well that's just funny to me. we've been in a rut for a while - a full year actually and well - all we can hope for is that the market rebounds and that things get better.
7I think people been saying this for a while now.
8as someone who just graduated in december 07, yes i could tell you thats exactly when it started!
9Not surprised at al!
10Um, duh.
11I think all the talk about recession causes people to spend less, even people who personally have felt no effect. Thus causing the recession to worsen.
12Umm, not surprised. It's been evident for quite some time we were headed this route. I am not suprised it hasn't been longer because economists follow strict guidelines on how the market must behave in order to "officially" call it a recession.
13The main criterion that the economy must face in order to be an official recession is a certain number (4?) of consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth, which is why it's taken so long for the "official" announcement.
14that and the fact that other countries went into recession first only because their definition was 2 quarters or 3 quarters...
15I'm shocked and speechless.
16I thought it was kind of silly that it was "officially announced" yesterday, like everyone didn't already know.
17Forget the 'official' announcement... Americans have known it for a while now.
18I'm surprised how long it took economists to come out and say it!
19i'm shocked that we've been in a recession since december 2007; i guess it didn't really hit my area until spring/summer time. but it is baffling that it took this long to get an official statement.
20I laughed when I saw "The US is Officially in Recession" on a newspaper today.
21The real question should be "Why Did Some People NOT Know the US is in a Recession?"...I mean even the wealthy are feeling the heat, how could one not know????
22Thank you! As if we haven't already been traversing hell.
23Thanks National Bureau of Economic Research for stating the obvious.
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