The Great Recession May Be Over But Economic Conditions Remain Depressed

According to the National Bureau of Economic Research the recession is officially over. Don't tell it to the millions of unemployed Americans, suffering small businesses, or the rest of the real economy. But for the large multinationals business really is good. From the NBER:

 At its meeting, the committee determined that a trough in business activity occurred in the U.S. economy in June 2009. The trough marks the end of the recession that began in December 2007 and the beginning of an expansion. The recession lasted 18 months, which makes it the longest of any recession since World War II. Previously the longest postwar recessions were those of 1973-75 and 1981-82, both of which lasted 16 months.

In determining that a trough occurred in June 2009, the committee did not conclude that economic conditions since that month have been favorable or that the economy has returned to operating at normal capacity. Rather, the committee determined only that the recession ended and a recovery began in that month. A 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 trough marks the end of the declining phase and the start of the rising phase of the business cycle. Economic activity is typically below normal in the early stages of an expansion, and it sometimes remains so well into the expansion.

 At least the NBER was honest enough to admit that economic conditions remain weak. The problem is that there has not been a recovery for many sectors in the economy. So while the free fall has stopped (temporarily), the "recovery"  feels more like a continuation of the recession.

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The Great Recession May Be Over But Economic Conditions Remain Depressed