Top Bush Aide Says Regions of US in Recession

October 20, 2008 · By Kalyani Mukherjee Filed Under Lead Story Tagged as: recession, US economy

Parts of the United States are already in the grip of a recession and it may take the credit system a few months before it can start lending smoothly again, revealed a top economic advisor from the Bush administration on Sunday.

Speaking on the Sunday at the CNN Late Night Edition, Ed Lazear noted that national unemployment rate stands at 6.1% and that in some states like California it was even higher. Lazear who heads the White House Council of Economic Advisors admitted that “certain parts of the country” are experiencing economic conditions that “anyone would characterize as recession.”

Economists predict that in the last three months of this year as well as in the first 90 days of the next year, United States will continue to witness economic slowdown, thus meeting the classic definition of a recession which requires two consecutive quarters of economic contraction. While many economic experts have for quite some time now believed that United States is in the grip of a recession, the term has never – till now – been used by the White House. This is because the technical definition has not been met as yet and because it carries such a negative weight which is particularly significant in an election year.

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