21 Sep 2010

US recession lasted 18 months - report

1:53 pm on 21 September 2010

A new report concludes the recession in the United States lasted 18 months and was the most prolonged since World War II.

The National Bureau of Economic Research says 8 million jobs were lost during the latest US recession, but getting them back has proved difficult, even though the recovery has now been underway for 15 months.

The research director at the Economic Cycle Research Institute, Anirvan Banerji, says the turnaround is quicker than in past recessions, but the job market is taking much longer than expected.

We have actually regained about 70% of the lost GDP, but only 9% of the lost jobs in the private sector' he said.

Income, employment industrial production and wholesale retail sales also form part of the analysis by the bureau.

The previous longest postwar recessions in 1973-75 and 1981-82 both lasted 16 months, it said.

Meanwhile, the London-based Centre for Economics and Business Research, says the world is not heading for a double-dip recession.

But the centre has revised its growth forecasts after downgrading its growth prospects for the US economy.