Posted on: Friday, July 18, 2003

Recession ended in 2001, say economists

Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Never mind that thousands of workers are still losing their jobs and the unemployment rate just hit a nine-year high.

The recognized arbiter of recessions declared yesterday that the recession that began in March 2001 ended that November — more than a year and a half ago.

The decision was made by a panel of academic economists at the National Bureau of Economic Research, which has the job of tracking the beginning and ending dates of U.S. downturns.

Some private economists who are not on the committee expressed puzzlement that the panel would choose this week to declare the downturn over, given that one of the key economic statistics that goes into the decision — employment — has shown increased deterioration in recent months.

The nation's unemployment rate surged to 6.4 percent last month, the biggest one-month jump since 9-11.