Just how bad is the economy?

Here are a few statistics for you. There have been several economic recessions since the end of World War II. The Joint Economic Committee has studied recoveries from previous recessions and compared them to the current situation. We are now 38 months past the beginning of the recession. When past recessions are studied, the committee found that at the 38-month marker employment would be about 3.7% higher than it was at the beginning of the recession. Employment is now – at the 38-month mark – 5% below what it was at the start of the recession. In previous recessions our economy enjoyed an average growth of 9.9% over 13-quarter period since the beginning of the recession. Where are we now? Our GDP has grown by 0.8% over that same 13-quarter period since the beginning of the 2008 recession.