Recession

WHERE IS the recession the Democrats are so loudly complaining about? Some pertinent facts: 1. It is next to impossible to get a room in Atlantic City for any weekend. 2. Ninety percent of the summer rentals at the shore have been taken. 3. Tickets to concerts, theaters and sporting events are at a premium. At restaurants, the lines are out the door. 4. The steel mills are booming, the casinos are packed, homes and cars are selling like there's no tomorrow. 5. A Bucks County friend sold 60 building lots ($200-400,000)

The wait-and-see economics of President Bush has taken a heavy toll. The drop in November's employment sharply raises the odds that the recession isn't ending. In a time of high debt, the biggest dangers lie ahead. But the president persists. The other day, inching closer to the facts, he called the economy's performance "unacceptable," but offered no new proposals for growth. He plans to wait until next month. Don't blame the White House alone for not taking strong action.

You knew it was a recession. We knew it was a recession. All those people who were thrown out of work knew it was a recession. Now even economists agree it's a recession. The National Bureau of Economic Research, a private group whose economists officially decree when U.S. recessions begin and end, yesterday announced that the U.S. economy was in a recession and that it began in July. That means the downturn started even before Iraq invaded Kuwait, sending oil prices skyrocketing.

The panel of academics responsible for deciding when United States recessions begin and end said Monday it's too soon to declare the current slump over. The National Bureau of Economic Research said that although most barometers show improvements in the economy, it would be "premature" to pinpoint the end of a recession based on economic data seen so far. "Many indicators are quite preliminary at this time and will be revised in coming months," the bureau's Business Cycle Dating Committee said.

PARIS - The eurozone is now in its longest ever recession - a stubborn slump that has surpassed even the calamity that hit the region in the financial crisis of 2008-09. The European Union statistics office said yesterday that nine of the 17 EU countries that use the euro are in recession, with France a notable addition to the list. Overall, the eurozone's economy contracted for the sixth straight quarter, shrinking by 0.2 percent in the January-March period from the previous three months.

The government's chief barometer of future economic activity fell in October for the fourth straight month, the Commerce Department reported yesterday, offering further evidence that a recession has started. The department said its Index of Leading Economic Indicators fell 1.2 percent in October. Three consecutive declines in the index have been viewed as a fairly reliable, but not infallible, sign that a recession is approaching. President Bush, speaking at a news conference yesterday, attributed at least part of the economic weakness to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in August and the subsequent rise in world oil prices.

No matter how often I see it, I am always amazed to view the success that results when people unite and work toward a common goal. Some of the most insurmountable obstacles in mankind's history have been overcome when people put aside racial, economic, and social differences and work together to overcome a problem that affects them all. One of the biggest problems of the '90s has been the recession, and all of us are affected by it, directly...

The economy stinks and it's not getting any better. President Bush, I'm sorry to say, is to blame. Two years ago it was possible for those of us who had supported him in 1988 to blame the Democratic Congress for inviting stagnation by opposing the president's tax proposals. A year ago, as the recession became reality, blame still could be divided between the White House and Congress as they cut a deal to raise taxes. Today the whole mess can only be laid squarely in the Oval Office.

To many market watchers, the predominant message that Wall Street has been sending since the Black Monday crash is clear: a recession is on the way. The five-year-old raging bull market had been predicated on the belief that booming economic growth would persist. But then, on Black Monday, Oct. 19, the bull's legs gave out. And it's been stumbling around ever since. "The market always anticipates what's going to happen," said Jeremy Siegel, professor of finance at the Wharton School.

Despite signs of economic slowdown, leading U.S. manufacturing companies do not expect the economy to stumble into recession before 1991, according to a survey released yesterday by the National Association of Manufacturers. Manufacturers expect 1990 to be a year of slow growth, steady low inflation and slightly increasing U.S. exports, primarily to Western Europe, the survey revealed. "You are not going to have a recession if inflation doesn't get out of control, causing the Fed to tighten (the money supply)

PARIS - The eurozone is now in its longest ever recession - a stubborn slump that has surpassed even the calamity that hit the region in the financial crisis of 2008-09. The European Union statistics office said yesterday that nine of the 17 EU countries that use the euro are in recession, with France a notable addition to the list. Overall, the eurozone's economy contracted for the sixth straight quarter, shrinking by 0.2 percent in the January-March period from the previous three months.

PARIS - The eurozone is now in its longest-ever recession, beating even the calamitous slump that hit the region in the financial crisis of 2008-09. The European Union statistics office said Wednesday that nine of the 17 EU countries that use the euro are in recession, with France a notable addition to the list. Overall, the eurozone's economy contracted for a sixth straight quarter, slumping by 0.2 percent in the January-March period from the previous three months. Though that is an improvement on the previous quarter's 0.6 percent decline, it's another unwelcome landmark for the single-currency bloc as it grapples with a debt crisis that has prompted governments to slash spending and raise taxes.

NEW YORK - The suicide rate among middle-aged Americans climbed a startling 28 percent in a decade, a period that included the recession and the mortgage crisis, the government reported Thursday. The trend was most pronounced among white men and women in that age group. Their suicide rate jumped 40 percent between 1999 and 2010. The rates in younger and older people held steady. And there was little change among middle-aged blacks, Hispanics, and most other racial and ethnic groups, the report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found.

The recession has had a two-pronged effect on public colleges and universities: States have slashed higher education funding to balance their budgets, while enrollment has boomed. Squeezed from both sides, schools nationwide have scrambled to lower costs, cutting faculty and programs. To counter the reduction in state funding, they have raised tuition, their only other major revenue source. The resulting numbers, adjusted for inflation, are striking: Schools received 28 percent less funding per student nationwide from the 2007-08 to the 2012-13 school year and raised tuition 27 percent in response, according to a new report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a nonpartisan think tank based in Washington.

Hundreds of chanting and jeering municipal union members, armed with piercing black whistles, drowned out Mayor Nutter on Thursday as he attempted to give his annual budget address on the floor of City Council. Rather than evicting the protesters - who are upset over a four-year stalemate in contract negotiations with the city - Council President Darrell L. Clarke recessed the meeting as Nutter read his speech. Nutter later delivered the speech downstairs to a more friendly audience - about 30 applauding members of his own staff and 20 reporters.

Teachers have long stressed the "three R's" - reading, writing, and arithmetic - as fundamental to learning. It's time to bring back another R: recess. In their well-intentioned emphasis on academics and standardized test scores, schools across the country have eliminated recess. Today, only 40 percent of public schools offer a play period. It's time to reconsider recess' benefits for students' minds as well as their bodies. Expecting elementary-school children to sit in classrooms for hours on end may actually hurt the learning process.

The end of the employment cliff for Pennsylvania is finally in sight, according to the economists at IHS Global Insight . On Monday, the Lexington, Mass., firm issued its latest forecast of when states will return to "peak employment" levels. Peak employment refers to the level of employment attained by a state before a recession wreaks its job-killing havoc. Pennsylvania is now expected to surpass its peak employment level next year during the first quarter, IHS Global Insight says.

LONDON - Italy's voters gave their verdict on the austerity medicine they've been forced to take when they went to the polls this week. By Friday, one of the reasons behind the protest was highlighted when the country's unemployment rate hit its highest level in at least two decades. Official figures Friday showed that unemployment in the country in January rose to 11.7 percent from the previous month's 11.3 percent. January's figure was the highest since the current way of measuring unemployment was introduced in 1992.

On the business front, no one can deny the wreckage wrought by the last recession. Companies faltered, died, or ended up on life support, barely breathing. That was then. Now, the improving economy is giving the survivors the confidence and capital to buy distressed businesses, which is why Porto Leone Consulting L.L.C. in Wayne needs more college interns this year, up to five instead of three. "When buyers make an acquisition, they don't know what the company is worth," said Rose Moroz, a Porto Leone executive, as she waited to talk to potential interns at Philadelphia University's spring career and internship fair on Thursday.

Court proceedings were recessed for at least two days in the federal civil lawsuit against the Philadelphia Housing Authority by former Executive Director Carl R. Greene - who was fired in September 2010 and contends that the agency owes him $743,000 in lost pay, plus damages. Court officials said the nonjury trial would not reconvene until at least Wednesday. One source said only that "the parties are talking. " The trial, which started Feb. 4 before U.S. District Judge Ronald L. Buckwalter, was interrupted last week for a settlement conference, court records show.