Recession over?

Discussion in 'Economics' started by TMcKenna, May 21, 2009.

  1. The source is Robert J. Gordon, an acclaimed macroeconomist and professor at Northwestern University. It's surprising to learn he thinks the recession is over, because he is one of seven members of the elite Business Cycle Dating Committee of the National Bureau of Economic Analysis. These are the people who decide officially, for the record books, when recessions begin and end -- usually many months after the fact, when the decision is really obvious. I'm unaware of any previous case in which a member of this committee has stepped forward and declared the end of a recession in real time.

    Gordon bases his gutsy call on an indicator that he says the committee never even looks at: claims for unemployment benefits. He's talking about the so-called jobless claims number that is released every Thursday morning before the market opens.

    Based on detailed data from state agencies, it reports the number of workers who have asked for unemployment benefits in the previous week. As Gordon points out, there is no other major macroeconomic statistics that comes out so frequently and so close to real time.


    http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/Extra/the-recession-it-is-over-economist-says.aspx
     
  2. maxpi

    maxpi

    Domestic rail shipping has been declining for the last three months... we're not exactly in expansion yet to say the least...
     
  3. the key words are: "has been declining"
    How about next six months?