No matter what the politicians may say or spin...

…the economists have announced that the US is, indeed, in a recession.

And this isn’t a new development either – the US economy has, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research, been in a recession since December, 2007.

The categorization is based on economic factors such as personal income, employment, production and sales – all of which have been “down” in the past 12 months.

One year – while our elected and appointed officials have been loathe to use the “R word” – it’s been clear, to most observers, that the US economy has been on a down turn.

Historical data suggests that the current recession has lasted “longer” than past down turns.

But if we’re just now hearing about it – does it really count? Wouldn’t it have been nicer if they could have announced that we had a recession – but it’s over now?