Is the recession over?

Sorry to hear you can't find a job, I know it is pretty hard out there right now. There are signs that the economy are turning around (my 401K went up 25% last quarter, BUT it is down 147% from it's high), but it will take time for US to see it. I know that there are very few employers out there hiring, and even the ones that are, they are not paying well, and are only hiring a few employees. Good luck

That should make Obama happy because the more the oil companies make the more money Obama will have for his policies. Demand is high for oil and the objection to drilling only drives up the cost of oil more. Most of the profits go to taxes and to the shareholders. Companies like Exxon provide great jobs with great benefits to their employees. Exxon's taxes it paid in 2008 was 2.5 times as much as its net profit paying $116 billion in taxes, $318 million per day in 2008.

I think we need to adjust to high gas prices. We are so used to flat consumer price indexes because the WalMarts's squeeze our farmers and Chineese factories tighter than a snare drum. We do need income to rise and Americans to be a little more responsible so that products can be bought for the prices they are really worth rather than what the big boxes demand.

Beth, jobs are a lagging indicator of a recovery. I did notice today that Gas prices were moving down, BUT they should be lower, and the oil companies have alot of explaining to do on this subject. I hope that Wall Street is right, and that this will be over soon.

Robert, I agree, I hope this is over too.

Well, I hate to say it but jobs are usually a lagging indacator of a recovery. In the last two recessions the economy grew while job loses were still going up. Lets all hope that this recovery has already started. Good luck finding a job.

All I'm hearing is that you love Obama and hate conservatives. As usual you faile to answer the question in this thread. "Is the recession over?"

Well sorry Taskr but I am not an economist and I don't feel qualified to really answer that question. As far as jobs, where I am, we have been in the tank for well over ten years now and no, I do not see that changing right now.

N, there is a very good reason for conservatives to derail the economy. Look at the last 30 years. Reagan had a few years of growth, but left the country with a record debt. Bush really didn't do much of anything, the economy was stagnet, and we still have high debt (but not record). Clinton had the longest stretch of economic growth in our nations history, and left the country with a surplus. Bush had a few years of good growth, then left the country in the worse economic crisis in decades, and left the country with another record debt. If Obama can pull this off, and bring the economy back around, you can pretty much kiss the Republican party good-bye. Who would ever trust them to run the country again?

thanks for your comment.

If you knew the facts... last week it was down 600 points from that last week and much of that increase is a recovery from the points it drastically dropped after the election below the level it No Clinton contributed to this mess with the damage he did to the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933, Creating to big to fail companies like Citigroup...Signing of NAFTA sending jobs overseas, among other things that I'm not going to get into because I haven't got the patience to go through and do the research to give you all the sources and places for you to get the education and facts you refuse to research yourself or even accept anyways. Not at all defending Bush but honestly get over it he's not the president anymore and neither is Clinton and yet "Oh Great Debater" you just can't debate without making Bush your focus. As for you knowing someone who got a little work on road construction how is that going to do much for the economy? Once the roads are fixed the job is done and your family member is out of a job again. As for my family who work in the aircraft industry three have lost their jobs because Obama's administration canceled their contracts with the government. My husband's base is so low on funding it's not funny. Road construction is short term pay that will end and will not create lasting employment. I use to think like you until I started really educating myself. But if you sleep well at night I guess the old saying is true... ignorance is bliss.

Missy, here are some REAL FACTS for you, From July 10 till today the DOW has gone up 701 points. Actually the DOW dropped before the election when the economy collapsed under George W. Bush. If you want to talk about Glass-Steagall Act, then you also have to give ALL the facts. The banking industry spent $200 million on house REPUBLICANS to get this act repelled, and they had the votes to overide a veto. So you can blame Clinton all you want, but we all know that the president doesn't make bills. I do agree that NAFTA was not a good idea, but democrats did a great job of stoping CAFTA durning the Bush years, this would have led to more lost jobs. "Not at all defending Bush but honestly get over it he's not the president anymore and neither is Clinton and yet "Oh Great Debater" you just can't debate without making Bush your focus." This is because he caused so many of the problems we have in our country today. How can you blame someone who has been in office for six months, for problems created created 5 -7 years ago? I am sure you remember when republicans blamed Bill Clinton for everything that happened during Bush's 1st term. Don't you remember the "Clinton Recession"? "As for you knowing someone who got a little work on road construction how is that going to do much for the economy? Once the roads are fixed the job is done and your family member is out of a job again." Missy, do I really have to explain how our economy works? See, when people have jobs (especially construction) they spend money on FOOD, SHELTER, and other products that provide jobs, and income to other companies. This is why republicans don't understand the manufacturing industry. They don't understand that when people have money they spend it on dinning out, new cars, new houses, and other products that they don't need. This creates jobs for people, and income for small businesses who are the largest employers in this country. "As for my family who work in the aircraft industry three have lost their jobs because Obama's administration canceled their contracts with the government." If we don't need the planes should we still build them? I have heard republicans blaming Obama for spending like a Bush, but here is a case where he saw a place to cut spending and did so. Isn't that his job? "Road construction is short term pay that will end and will not create lasting employment." Road construction leaves infrastructure that can be used by people, and companies to expand, and travel. With out a good infrastructure any area will lose jobs, because if you can't move your product then your company will be out of business soon. Unlike bailing out banks who created the mess that destroyed our economy. They can, and probably will, be right back here in the future. Missy, I really enjoy talking about the economy, I know alot about it, and I am sure that I can teach you much more than you can teach me. If you have anymore question about the economy than bring them on. I hate to tell you this, but the people that know agree with me, the idiots that want to bash Obama don't. If you look at the facts, and do some RESEARCH, you will quickly see that your possition is incorrect.

Missy, if you look at the facts you will see that the DOW is up over 2,000 points since the March 9 low. You will also see that the market has been up more than down for the last three months. The stimulus bill does not start to send money out untill the third quarter of this year, so you are correct that it hasn't done much, but that is because it hasn't even started. I have seen ACTUAL road programs that have been started because of the stimulus bill, and it employed one of my customers, so it even DIRECTLY effected my family. You would be surprised at what the money is going to, but you would actually have to look around instead of listening to people that feed you information. I remember people saying that the economy grew during the Clinton years despite Clinton, and if that makes you sleep better at night than fine. But, Obama didn't get us into this mess, and it will take him time to fix the mess that Bush left for the country. But, it will get done.

Suspenseful, sorry to hear about life up north, I really enjoy going to Canada, everyone seams so nice up there. As a matter of fact I think I will be in Windsor in two weeks. Price of some products have gone up, while prices on other have gone down, I paid $1.69 for milk a few days ago, and I paidl $2.16 this morning for gas. The United States had a budget surplus in 2001, in 2008 we had the highest debt in our nations history. Obama wasn't president in 2008. So blaming Obama for this is not factually correct, George W. Bush created our debt problems. It is Obama's job to fix the mess that Bush created, and it isn't going to be very easy. Gas has actually gone down for the last three weeks, and oil is $80 less than last year at this time, so it is getting better. I haven't seen an economics predict a depression since the first of the year, and these are guys that know alot more about the economy than you and me combined.

Taskr, well to start off with Nouriel Roubini made the statement on Thursday (I know you have no clue who this is, but he is one of the smartest men in the finacial world, and his words moved the market). Along with your friends at Forbes, your other friends at The Wall Street Journal (both far right wing news organizations). ECRI which has called the end of the last two recessions, and has tracked the US economy for decades. If you would like I can go on Taskr, this is pretty easy stuff to find on the internet. I do see signs of the economy coming back, all of my paving customers are so busy they don't have time to look for work because they are busy working (not common around here). I have fifteen customers that recently had their lots paved, and two other that spend tens of thousands pouring cement drives. There are road projects springing up all over the area up here, and that is part of the stimulas. I understand that you may be seeing different things down there, but up here it is starting look up.

A steel plant that is located nearby called their workers back to work on the 1st day of July. The plant closed down and the workers were without a paycheck back in September or October. They have started to work on a four lane highway that has been needed for years, with stimulus money, that is putting a lot of construction and labor personel back to work, as there will have to be several "fly overs" and bridges built in a 15 mile stretch before the concrete can be poured for the new highway, so there is a lot of jobs to be had in the short future. The local government in my community has received stimulus money to help build a new sewer plant that is badly needed. The recession may not be over, but those are good signs of recovery that I can see in our local area. Those against the stimulus can harp all they want but it is putting people back to work and when heavy industry such as a steel plant starts up again after being shut down during the last administrations' reign, it is progress and a sign that things will turn around if the conservatives would just co-operate a little instead of trying to kill every positive bill that is brought forward by the present administration.

X, it wouldn't surprise me to see unemployment go up 1 - 3% in the next few months. But, you have to remember that employment is a lagging indicator, and the stock market is a forward indicator. The last two recessions have ended while unemployment was still on the rise. We have heard some rumors of price increases on our oil end the last few weeks, but nothing concrete, so I am not sure on the inflation. I don't really see a deflation option out there, but that is just me. I do see inflation going up, but that isn't always a bad thing, some inflation is good, but to much could hurt the coutnry.

Gramm, economist knew we were in a recession in late 2007 but the White House didn't tell anyone. The Grand Central Station of Treasury Secretaries may have been the reason that the Bush administration was asleep at the wheel. But, that doesn't matter. I see more foreclosures in the future, they say that in 2010 30% of Adujustable rate mortgages come up, and it could lead to another huge number. I personally think that the people that got us into this mess, can't get us out of it. I think that the government needs to step up and force Bank of American, and the other mortgage companies to work on these mortgages, and get them in-line. I agree that job loss was one factor, but the high price of oil last year hurt this country worse than any war, recession, or maybe even depression this country has ever seen. I guess Clinton was right about keeping oil low, and the economy will grow.

I mostly agree with your post but inflation in any form is not good for the economy. Sure it increases profits for producers but but it also increases prices for consumers. It also creates a gap between the cost of living and the consumer's income. These "little" crashes I spoke of are simply Natural adjustments to get wages and the cost of living back more in line. This gap gets a little too wide consumption slows, sales drop and prices should come down. I say "should" but they don't and this is where the government is not doing their job. Prices should be regulated by the government. The producers are free to just increase their prices to make up for the less sales. This is causing us some very serious problems. The only real value any consumer goods have is to be determined on how long and how well it will serve man's needs. Any producer that wishes to increase their profits should be forced by laws to either find a cheaper way to produce their goods or produce a better quality item that will server man's needs longer and better. This is not the way our economy is operating and it is causing us some very serious problems. Obama like everyone else that has come down the pike for many years is trying to solve our problems the same way he mows his lawn. When you go out and mow your lawn all your are doing is clipping the top of the grass off and leaving the root in the ground to grow back to me mowed again later. This works good for a lawn but if you want to kill the grass so it doesn't grow back you dig deep and kill out the roots of the grass. Our Government is simply clipping at the top of our problems and leaving the root of then to grown back to be dealt with again later. They need to dig deep and kill out the very root of our problems so they don't grow back. There is a lot of areas they could do this if they just would and completely eliminate a lot of our problems. Art

Arkie, inflation isn't a bad thing, but like you said run away inflation can be a big problem. When inflation goes up, profits go up, corporations have more money to hire, or expand, and the economy grows. But, run away inflation makes products to expensive, so people buy less, and it destroys the economy (last year was a perfect example of this, when oil reach $147 a barrel, and Bush did NOTHING, people chose between gas and everything else). I don't agree with your assesment of Obama, THE MAN HAS BEEN IN OFFICE FOR 6 MONTHS. It took George W. Bush 8 years to destroy the economy (and YES he did destroy the economy, at every turn he could have stopped what we are going through now, but chose not to), it is going to take more than 6 months fix the problem that Bush created. I think that Obama will be more open to fixing problems than Bush was. Bush was great at finding problems, but he never fixed them, even when his party controlled the entire government. He was also great at creating huge problems, and making them larger by not doing his job (when you are sitting on the largest stockpile of oil in the world, and oil reaches $147 a barrel, and you do NOTHING AT ALL to releave the problem, then you ARE THE PROBLEM). I understand what you are saying Art, but the signs of a double dip recession just aren't there, and yes you are correct that we head back into a recession in the coming years, but we also may not.