Tag Archives: NBER

NOW Are We In Recession?

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Is the United States in recession?   If one looked solely at the adverse shocks that have hit the economy over the last year, one would infer an unusually high probability of a recession.    If one consulted some of the most import economic measures over the last year, one would say the country clearly entered a recession last January.  If one gauged the popular mood, one would hear, “Of course we are in recession !” 

 

The one criterion that has been missing is the one criterion that people most commonly have in their minds as the definition of a recession:   two consecutive quarters of negative growth.   This morning, October 30, the Commerce Department released the advance estimate of GDP for the 3rd quarter.   It showed a decline.   The decline was small:  just 0.3 per cent at an annual rate; and it is only one quarter, not yet two.    But at this point there can be little doubt that we are really truly in recession.  read more

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Goldman Sachs Puts Odds That NBER Committee Will Declare Current Recession at 95%

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A guest post, from Goldman Sachs — U.S. Economic Research:

September 9, 2008

 

  

To us, the very weak employment report last Friday pretty much closes the argument when it comes to whether or not the economy is in recession—it is.

 

The model puts the chance that August will be classified as part of a recession by the NBER at 95%.  Several factors push the probability so high.  Most important is the ongoing labor market deterioration.  The large increases in unemployment combined with the decline in payroll employment, both over the last three months, are very significant signs pointing toward recession.  The decline in the stock market and the fact that housing starts are off 30% from the prior year also push up the estimated probability.

In fact, April was the only month this year for which the data did not signal a recession, as the probability temporarily dipped below 50%.  The reasons for this were: (1) some temporarily better labor market data, since largely revised away; and (2) the brief rally in the equity market following the government brokered purchase of Bear Stearns.  Apart from this dip, the general trend has been a slow drift up from a somewhat high probability of being in recession to a very high probability.,.. 

….  Put differently, if the economy is not in recession now, then the meaning of the term has changed, at least according to this model. 
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Did GDP Fall Within the 1st Quarter or Not?

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Over the past month, I , citing Feldstein, have said that if one looks at available information on monthly GDP, available from estimates of MacroAdvisers, that output declined within the first quarter of the year, even though as standardly reported GDP was higher in QI overall than it had been in the last quarter of 2007. But, as it turns out, there is some ambiguity to the question.

The estimates do show GDP falling in February, by a hefty 10.1% anualized. But the numbers for January and March are up. To net out the three months, one must split hairs. The positive numbers for January plus March are just slightly greater in absolute value than February’s negative 0.9 (monthly). So the net is up? Not necessarily. read more

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