Downturn longest since Great Depression

The recent US downturn, which officially ended in June 2009, has been the longest since the great Depression beginning with the Wall Street crash in 1929.

According to the National Bureau of Economic Research, the recession lasted 18 months, from December 2007 to June 2009. That was longer than the 16 months of the 1973-75 and 1981-82 recessions, the Financial Times reports. The announcement highlights the extraordinary length of the recession that began when the collapse of the subprime mortgage market triggered the most severe financial crisis since 1929. An official end date for the recession also makes it official that the recovery since 2009 has been unusually weak and jobless. That gives evidence to those who argued that recovery ...