It's official: US slips back into recession

[NotMyBro]

Well, we're officially in another recession

The US economy unexpectedly took its biggest plunge in more than three years last quarter, contracting at an annual rate of 0.1 percent and indicating a new level of vulnerability for the economy.
The plummet marks the first time the economy contracted since the Great Recession ended and is causing concern that the US could be headed further downhill. The economy shrank from October through December, which economists attribute to a large cut in spending, fewer exports and lagging growth in company stockpiles.
Defense spending contracted at a 22 percent annual rate in the fourth quarter and saw its biggest cut in 40 years, while business inventories sharply declined, indicating that businesses will need to buy more goods in the next quarter to restock their shelves. The Hurricane Sandy recovery effort also cut about 0.5 percentage points off of fourth-quarter growth.
Gross domestic product fell at a 0.1 percent annual rate, which is a dramatic decrease from the economy’s 3.1 percent growth rate in the third quarter, the Commerce Department reported. The US economy had not plummeted this deeply since the second quarter of 2009, when the Great Recession was in its final stages.
Alan Krueger, head of President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers, attributes the deep decline to the upcoming sequestration deadline.
“A likely explanation for the sharp decline in federal defense spending is uncertainty concerning the automatic spending cuts that were scheduled to take effect in January, and are currently scheduled to take effect on March 1st,”Krueger wrote in a White House blog post.

And Obongo is again blaming republicans

Obama blames -- Republicans!

[Kamie]

I just read this - it is absolutely insane. His ability to deflect is masterful.

[Snotty]

And that was just on the knowledge that tax hikes were coming...........Wait till they take full effect

[Kamie]

And that was just on the knowledge that tax hikes were coming...........Wait till they take full effect

Hold onto your hats, folks. We're in for a rough 4 years. The economy will not improve. Hmmmmm.....maybe it's time to spend another $trillion on a stimulus, since that worked so well the first time. And for the progressives out there who will attack me, I was against TARP as well, and that was all Bush.

[Jake Dog]

[racerx]

its all the [insert other party here] faults.

they suck

[Kamie]

its all the [insert other party here] faults.

they suck

Nope - it's both of them. And we lose.

[Dick Gozinya]

The GDP fractionally contracts and suddenly we're in a recession?

Buncha sheep afraid to spend cause of the fiscal cliff

Just watch this quarter's results.

Check the unemployment stats while you're hiding under your bed.

[Dick Gozinya]

Nope - it's both of them. And we lose.

Exactly.

[racerx]

Nope - it's both of them. And we lose.

yea i was being facetious.

usually its 1 side or the other trying to screw us.
it seems like now they are teaming up against us
look for the bipartisan bs immigration bill soon.
i wrote my congress person last time they tried it, this time i know its no use.

[Kamie]

The GDP fractionally contracts and suddenly we're in a recession?

Buncha sheep afraid to spend cause of the fiscal cliff

Just watch this quarter's results.

Check the unemployment stats while you're hiding under your bed.

The real unemployment rate is on the U6 line. From the Bureau of Labor Statistics.....

Measure	Not seasonally adjusted			Seasonally adjusted
Dec. 2011	Nov. 2012	Dec. 2012	Dec. 2011	Aug. 2012	Sept. 2012	Oct. 2012	Nov. 2012	Dec. 2012
U-1 Persons unemployed 15 weeks or longer, as a percent of the civilian labor force	4.8	4.2	4.2	4.9	4.4	4.3	4.4	4.3	4.3
U-2 Job losers and persons who completed temporary jobs, as a percent of the civilian labor force	5.0	3.9	4.3	4.9	4.5	4.2	4.2	4.1	4.1
U-3 Total unemployed, as a percent of the civilian labor force (official unemployment rate)	8.3	7.4	7.6	8.5	8.1	7.8	7.9	7.8	7.8
U-4 Total unemployed plus discouraged workers, as a percent of the civilian labor force plus discouraged workers	8.8	7.9	8.3	9.0	8.6	8.3	8.4	8.3	8.5
U-5 Total unemployed, plus discouraged workers, plus all other persons marginally attached to the labor force, as a percent of the civilian labor force plus all persons marginally attached to the labor force	9.8	8.8	9.2	10.0	9.6	9.3	9.3	9.2	9.4
U-6 Total unemployed, plus all persons marginally attached to the labor force, plus total employed part time for economic reasons, as a percent of the civilian labor force plus all persons marginally attached to the labor force	15.2	13.9	14.4	15.2	14.7	14.7	14.5	14.4	14.4
NOTE: Persons marginally attached to the labor force are those who currently are neither working nor looking for work but indicate that they want and are available for a job and have looked for work sometime in the past 12 months. Discouraged workers, a subset of the marginally attached, have given a job-market related reason for not currently looking for work. Persons employed part time for economic reasons are those who want and are available for full-time work but have had to settle for a part-time schedule. Updated population controls are introduced annually with the release of January data.

[isabella]

I just read this - it is absolutely insane. His ability to deflect is masterful.

we never left the recession.... obama and his minions in the press were full of shit and more idiots believed him than believed romney.
we're never going to come out of it. obama owns it now.

[racerx]

The real unemployment rate is on the U6 line. From the Bureau of Labor Statistics.....

i'm sympathetic to anyone who truly can't get a job.

but i think most people aren't willing to work for less, or get retrained, or relocate.
and why should they if they goina get unemployment comp. forever.
even the supposed tea party ppl keeps voting for it

[racerx]

we never left the recession.... obama and his minions in the press were full of shit and more idiots believed him than believed romney.
we're never going to come out of it. obama owns it now.

i think it was the same number of idiots.
mit had no magic bill to fix everything. and even ryan voted for the bam tax increase

[Kamie]

i'm sympathetic to anyone who truly can't get a job.

but i think most people aren't willing to work for less, or get retrained, or relocate.
and why should they if they goina get unemployment comp. forever.
even the supposed tea party ppl keeps voting for it

I wish I could find the study that I read, but it was from one of those Scandinavian countries that username lives in...I think it actually was Denmark. They had provided unemployment benefits to people forever, and the rate continued to be high. As soon as unemployment benefits were cut off to people who were on long-term unemployment, the rate plummeted. And while I do feel badly for those people who are unemployed and struggling, how long do we provide unemployment benefits?

[HowieStearn]

I didnt vote that loser- either time.

[Kamie]

i think it was the same number of idiots.
mit had no magic bill to fix everything. and even ryan voted for the bam tax increase

Ryan has said a few things lately that really disappointed me.

[itpdude]

I'm no fan of Obama. However, to say for a second that going on a couple unfunded adventures half a world away, unfunded tax cuts, deferred maintenance, and the bottom 75% (this 1% stuff is bullshit) getting squeeze for the last 40 years MAY have a little bit to do with the precarious state of the US economy.

We can't substitute anymore. We can't rely upon women entering the workplace. We haven't got another internet-like revolution in the works. The biggest parts of the budget are things that will not get cut. SS, military, medicare, etc, are things that make up most of the budget but no one wants to cut them AND we have the boomers about to retire en masse and live longer and be a greater burden on our govt services than ever seen before.

We have fewer workers per retiree than EVER before and it will only get worse. We have far more people on "disability" than EVER before and it will only get worse. My mother in law is on "disability" for some strange reason. She can get around just fine but doesn't work because of. . . . hell if I know. Sidebar: She voted Romney. So much for bootstraps, eh?

This fucking train ain't gonna get righted anytime soon unless the pols in DC realize that the economy is based upon a foundation and that foundation isn't Bill Gates or any of the other rich guys. It's based upon a strong middle class. Stronger middle class, fewer poor people, and maybe not so many ultra rich, means greater demand in general. Kind of like we saw post WWII before the insane Randians took over policy on fiscal stuff.

[CAPTAIN KIRK]

The GDP fractionally contracts and suddenly we're in a recession?

Buncha sheep afraid to spend cause of the fiscal cliff

Just watch this quarter's results.

Check the unemployment stats while you're hiding under your bed.

Yup, and the stock market continues to boom but u never hear about that either ...

[Dick Gozinya]

I'm no fan of Obama. However, to say for a second that going on a couple unfunded adventures half a world away, unfunded tax cuts, deferred maintenance, and the bottom 75% (this 1% stuff is bullshit) getting squeeze for the last 40 years MAY have a little bit to do with the precarious state of the US economy.

We can't substitute anymore. We can't rely upon women entering the workplace. We haven't got another internet-like revolution in the works. The biggest parts of the budget are things that will not get cut. SS, military, medicare, etc, are things that make up most of the budget but no one wants to cut them AND we have the boomers about to retire en masse and live longer and be a greater burden on our govt services than ever seen before.

We have fewer workers per retiree than EVER before and it will only get worse. We have far more people on "disability" than EVER before and it will only get worse. My mother in law is on "disability" for some strange reason. She can get around just fine but doesn't work because of. . . . hell if I know. Sidebar: She voted Romney. So much for bootstraps, eh?

This fucking train ain't gonna get righted anytime soon unless the pols in DC realize that the economy is based upon a foundation and that foundation isn't Bill Gates or any of the other rich guys. It's based upon a strong middle class. Stronger middle class, fewer poor people, and maybe not so many ultra rich, means greater demand in general. Kind of like we saw post WWII before the insane Randians took over policy on fiscal stuff.

Dude, great post. But forget the gun laws and immigration reform. We need UNEMPLOYMENT REFORM. No one wants to work in this country anymore. Why bother? You get as much on unemployment as you do for a decent job. I've run into a ton of motherfuckers that are capable of working, but decide not to because they're milking the system, and they're laughing about that.

Like Kamie said... Cut em off and you'll watch the unemployment rate dive. You can't blame either side for that horseshit. The ones responsible are the ones that fail to see it.