US Commerce Department: US Economy Worst in 50 Years

US Commerce Department: US Economy Worst in 50 Years

www.bizjournals.com

Data released by the department show that the US economy shrank by 6.1 % during the first 3 months of the year. It was the 2nd straight quarter the US economy contracted by more than 6%. The last quarter of 2008 produced a 6.3% decline - the biggest drop in 25 years.

(visit the link for the full news article)

If you use the analogy of a depression being a 10% decline over a 12 to 18 month period , than for what it's worth , we are in a depression. business is cutting expenses , exports are at a 40 yr low, unemployment near 9% , now throught in a swine flu to the mix and 2009 is not going to be much fun at all. Reminds me of a scene from the old Airplane movie , I picked the wrong time to quit drinking.

www.bizjournals.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Many knowledgeable people here in the area of finance say the government plays with its numbers and the actual figure is around 11% all in all..im not an expert though,but 11% is bigger than 6% which means a worse scenario i imagine

Originally posted by Solomons
Many knowledgeable people here in the area of finance say the government plays with its numbers and the actual figure is around 11% all in all..im not an expert though,but 11% is bigger than 6% which means a worse scenario i imagine

If it was 11% in 1 quarter, that would be devastating

i can only believe they mean over 2 quarters, I hope

yeah...yet they spin that the economy is recovering because consumer spending went up 2.2 percent in the first quarter of this year.

GEE....I wonder if that had anything to do with TAX RETURNS??

HMM??!

Absurdity.

The economy is really sick!

Missery loves company so thanks to the Swine Flu striking out of Flu season you too can be sick!

Sick economy...sick people...see nothing wrong with this picture!

It's why I rub my eyes furiously until they are blood shot right before they snap my photo for my driver's lisence...see officer they look like that all the time!

It's all in the picture!

Originally posted by ProtoplasmicTraveler
The economy is really sick!

Missery loves company so thanks to the Swine Flu striking out of Flu season you too can be sick!

Sick economy...sick people...see nothing wrong with this picture!

It's why I rub my eyes furiously until they are blood shot right before they snap my photo for my driver's lisence...see officer they look like that all the time!

It's all in the picture!

It wouldn't be a leap for this flu

to cover up this kind of news tbh

Only thing is, this flu can only "hurt" the economy more

They think its bad now, wait a month or two, this flu could put us into a true depression, depending on how much it takes hold and how much the gov shuts things down.
as it stands we are going to see a major ripple effect from what has already happend world wide. Give this time to fully run its course and they are going to see numbers that will scare them and us.

It all depends on what counts as spending. A news item today says that the two bestselling things on amazon are masks to protect from flu, so flu is helping raise consumer spending!

also, the zombie banks keep getting more money but have not written off their toxic debt PLUS they are cutting employees (I think. not sure about that come to think of it). so losses are less and maybe they are even profitable. But none of it is true. they are still zombies. and the non-zombies aren't allowed to pay money back because that would expose the zombies.

does anybody know if bailout money received is counted as a debt or asset? Which side of the balance sheet does it go on? Debt would imply the intention to repay it. Asset would suggest it's a gift.

When did we stop expecting any splinter of truth in statements made by government? For years we've complained that promises made during campaigns never come to pass. We complain that data is massaged and spun and focus grouped. But to call increased consumer spending a hopeful sign of recovery in an economy with, as far as I can see, no good news in terms of new jobs, with billions of dollars in bailout and trillions of dollars in spending, all borrowed money, with small businesses and large businesses alike facing punitive taxes within a year or two, well, it's nothing resembling truth.