really? 
US came out of recession in June 2009, says NBER
PTI, Sep 21, 2010, 04.00am IST
Tags:
united states|Recession
WASHINGTON: The world's largest economy US came out of the longest recession since the World War II in June 2009, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER).
A panel of experts, NBER is responsible for dating various business cycles in the American economy.
"A trough in business activity occurred in the US economy in June 2009. The trough marks the end of the recession that began in December 2007 and the beginning of an expansion," NBER said in a statement today.
This was determined by NBER's Business Cycle Dating Committee.
"The recession lasted 18 months, which makes it the longest of any recession since World War II. Previously, the longest post-war recessions were those of 1973-75 and 1981-82, both of which lasted 16 months," it noted.
Its like... if we use one definition to declare we are in a recession.. we have to use the same factors and definitions to declare we are out...
see
Generally, recession is defined as two straight quarters of economic contraction, NBER takes into different factors to determine the same.
According to the panel, recession is a period of falling economic activity spread across the economy, lasting more than a few months, normally visible in real GDP, real income, employment, industrial production, and wholesale-retail sales.
The American economy was ravaged by the financial crisis in 2008-09, a meltdown that not only pushed the country into the brink but also saw the loss of over eight million jobs. The seeds for the unprecedented turmoil were sown during the subprime mortgage problems that began in late 2007.
Interestingly, the announcement comes at a time when the US economy continues to grapple with high unemployment levels despite relatively healthy GDP growth.
NBER pointed out that "any future downturn of the economy would be a new recession and not a continuation of the recession that began in December 2007.
"The basis for this decision was the length and strength of the recovery to date."
Going by official figures, the American economy expanded 1.6 per cent in the second quarter of 2010 while unemployment rate was at 9.6 per cent in August.
just sayin cant change definitions
