15 Months Out of Recession, but Not Feeling Like It
24 September 2010
This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.
Businesses are still slow to hire and unemployment remains near ten percent. But an economic research group reported this week that the recession in the United States ended in June of last year.
It was the longest since the nineteen thirties.
James Stock is on the committee that dates the rises and falls of the business cycle for the National Bureau of Economic Research. The Harvard professor says this recession was in some ways a lot like others since World War Two.
JAMES STOCK: "I think what I’ve been struck by is how these numbers basically look like all the other recessions we've had in the postwar period."
But one difference was the length -- eighteen months. Many recessions since the nineteen forties lasted less than a year.
Another difference was the severity. The economy shrank by more than four percent. About eight million people lost their jobs.
Professor Stock thinks job growth is likely to increase in the coming months based on current levels of productivity.
JAMES STOCK: "I think that we are at a point right now where productivity has increased so much that for output to continue to grow, we will be seeing increases in hiring."
Some economic signs have improved. Manufacturing, industrial production and consumer spending have made small gains. But a Labor Department report shows that new claims for unemployment insurance rose unexpectedly last week.
最新
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25