The recession is not over

"... because of massive unemployment, which is approaching levels not seen since the Great Depression, and because of the massive loss of personal wealth, this recession is not likely to act like any of the other recessions of the post-World War II era. These have all been “U” or “V”-shaped affairs, where economic activity would either drop and then, after lingering at a low level for a while, recover at an accelerating rate, as in a “U”, or plunge precipitously to a sharp bottom and then quickly recover, as in a “V”.

This time, we are more likely to see an “L”-shaped recession, where the economy hits bottom at some point, and then operates for years at a much lower level. That lower part of that “L” might rise slowly, but it wouldn’t rise by much. In this case, we would see continued high levels of unemployment, lower wages, and no bounce-back in personal wealth."

Read more on : http://www.counterpunch.org/lindorff08042009.html.