Yesterday the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) announced that the “Great Recession” ended in June 2009. It’s the longest recession on record since the Great Depression, lasting a total of 18 months (December ’07 – June ‘09). Given this significance, the recession is commonly referred to as the “The Great Recession.”
What’s a recession anyway? The NBER defines a recession as “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.”
Although the recession is officially over, the economic recovery has been slow. With one of the biggest concerns being the unemployment rate, which remains a high 9.6%. The home industry is another area of concern given the low home values and high levels of foreclosures and bank repos.
Below is President Obama’s response to NBER’s announcement (recession ended in June 2009), during CNBC sponsored Town Hall meeting on jobs (September 20, 2010):
“Well, first of all, even though economists may say that the recession officially ended last year, obviously for the millions of people who are still out of work, people who have seen their home values decline, people who are struggling to pay the bills day to day, it’s still very real for them.”
“The challenge is, is that the hole was so deep that a lot of people out there are still hurting”
President Obama added, “something that took 10 years to create is going to take a little more time to solve.”
What’s your take on the recession being officially over?
- Do you feel like the recession is over?
- What does this news mean to YOU?
- Will this news have a positive impact on the economy?
