The Recession Was Over Last Year, But The Economy Has Not Fully Recovered

The Recession Was Over Last Year, But The Economy Has Not Fully Recovered

The recession ended in April 2020, according to a new release. The recession ended in April 2020, according to a new statement by the official judge of business cycles. Despite the latest pronouncement, nobody feels like we've been in good shape the past year. The recession label is given by a committee of the non-profit National Bureau for Economic Research. The purpose is to help researchers have a common and accepted set of business cycle dates. The committee does not make forecasts nor recommend policy. It just determines whether the economic worm has turned. The committee wrote, "In determining that a trough occurred in April 2020, the committee did not conclude that the economy has returned to operating at normal capacity." If someone falls down a ten-foot hole, an economist would say the person is in recession. When the unlucky person gets up and takes one step upward, the economist says the person is out of recession. Everyone else sees the person is nine feet down a ten-foot hole. Looking a little into the future is part of the committee's work. After the economy has turned up, the committee asks itself: If the economy starts to turn down tomorrow, will