We’ve Been In A Recession For A Year

And only NOW they tell us.  According to the National Bureau of Economic Research is he body that determines these things.

By one benchmark, a recession occurs whenever the gross domestic product, the total output of goods and services, declines for two consecutive quarters. However, the NBER’s dating committee uses broader and more precise measures.

The GDP did contract by 0.2 percent at an annual rate in the fourth quarter of 2007. However, that drop was followed by a 0.9 percent rate of increase in the first quarter and a 2.8 percent spurt in the second quarter, when the economy was boosted by the distribution of millions of economic stimulus payments.

However, employment, one of the measurements tracked by the NBER, has been falling since January.

The GDP turned negative again in the July-September quarter of this year, falling at an annual rate of 0.5 percent. Many economists believe the GDP is falling in the current quarter at an even sharper rate of 4 percent.

They can’t blame President-elect Obama for this one, as conservatives claimed fear of his presidency was driving us into a recession once he got elected.  Maybe they can blame Hillary Clinton, as she was going to be the likely next president at the time the recession actually began.

By: Alan

Alan Colmes is the publisher of Liberaland.