Last summer ended the Great Recession, but started the expansion economic downturn

Many say the United States of America is in an economic downturn. Technically, that isn’t the case with the definition of the word. Economic misery as a real-life condition persists, however a government panel announced Monday that the recession officially finished in June 2009. This has been the longest slide since World War II as the economic downturn lasted 18 months after starting in December 2007. The economy’s prolonged freefall had earned it the title of “Great Recession” long before it was officially declared over. The government said that the economy won’t be returning to its full capacity for a while even though it is growing again. The Federal Reserve is hoping the economic expansion will not be too slow to stem rising joblessness with a “growth recession”.

Recession vs. Depression

The National Bureau of Economic Research says that the longest economic downturn since the Great Depression ended last summer when the economy started to grow again. The Los Angeles Times reports that a relapse, or double-dip, would be a new recession. The Great Recession is second to the Great Depression in length. The Recession was only 18 months while the Depression was between 1929 and 1933, making it 43 months. Between 1973-75 and 1981-82 there were two 16 month recessions. More than 8 million people lost their jobs, and also the labor market could take years to recuperate. Probably the most damage within the economic downturn originated from productivity expansion, claims the NBER. This was because job growth ceased and let output be sustained.

Paper end to Economic downturn

The NBER warned last spring that what appears to be an expansion could possibly be a blip in a long-term contraction. NEBR defines an economic downturn as, according to the Washington Post, “a period of falling economic activity spread across the economy, lasting more than a few months, normally visible in real gross domestic product (GDP), real income, employment, industrial production, and wholesale-retail sales.” According to the panel, GDP and industrial production bottomed out in June 2009. Employment, however, did not begin expanding until December 2009. According to the NEBR, just because the end of the economic downturn was announced does not mean conditions are getting better.

Growth recession data

The economy is apparently getting better in a growth recession. During this whole time, the unemployment rate continues to go up. Bloomberg reports that economic growth slowed in 2010 to a 1.6 percent annual rate in the second quarter from 3.7 percent within the first quarter. Numerous were excited when they heard the fourth quarter of 2009 showed a 5 percent rate of expansion. The consumer spending needed to strengthen the economy isn’t happening with the joblessness rate at 9.5 percent. Fed chairman Ben Bernake said the agency has the tools to aid the economy. Numerous think the Fed should buy more government debt or treasuries since rates of interest are near zero. Numerous people think that individuals just ne! ed jobs. This would help America’s economy a lot.

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Los Angeles times

latimes.com/business/la-fi-recession-20100920,,4014811.story

Washington Post

voices.washingtonpost.com/political-economy/2010/09/its_official_the_great_recessi.html

Bloomberg

bloomberg.com/news/2010-09-19/escaping-double-dip-to-growth-recession-means-no-unemployment-relief-seen.html