Archive for the ‘Economic Recession’ Category

On the Dole: The Effects of Economic Recession on Employment

Wednesday, March 10th, 2010

In today’s world, it seems that almost any topic is open for debate. While I was gathering facts for this article, I was quite surprised to find some of the issues I thought were settled are actually still being openly discussed.

There is a lot of talk about economic recession nowadays. People are complaining how economic recession is making their lives worse. The economic recession often refers to the two quarters of negative economic growth. A severe recession which lasts for more than two years, becomes a depression.

A recession is characterised by rising unemployment, increase in government borrowing, decrease of share and stock prices, and falling investment. All of these characteristics have effects on people.

People have a general understanding of the recessions’ negative effects. But how does an ordinary consumer get affected by a recession, employment in particular is not really clear.

John Schmitt and Dean Baker released a new report on the possible impact of the recession on What We’re In For, Projected Economic Impact of the Next Recession this year. In their report, the 2008 recession in United States is perceived to raise the national employment rate between 2.1 and 3.8 percentage points. This would be an equivalent of between 3.2 million and 5.8 million unemployed Americans. CalculatedRisk stated, based on this report and United States’ recession history, that economic downturn can be measured in how high the unemployed number of people rises.

Based from the United States recession history, there had been a handful of times when the unemployment rate has risen during an expansion. Unemployment had risen by 0.5 percent or and there were instances that it is less. But this scenarios happen when the country is not under any economic downfall. When the unemployment percentage reaches 0.6 percent, the economy is described to be under a recession. This year, the U.S. unemployment rate is nearly 1.1 percent.

Economists, until now have not yet formally labelled the economic downturn of the United States as an economic recession. Amidst falling home equity, the rising cost of food, health care and housing along with disturbing number of unemployment, economists is still claiming that there is still growth in the economy, even though it is small. People found it unnecessary for a formal announcement to actually feel the recession coming in.

Truthfully, the only difference between you and Economic Recession experts is time. If you’ll invest a little more time in reading, you’ll be that much nearer to expert status when it comes to Economic Recession.

According to Miami Herald, people unemployed are starting get desperate. The number or people out of work for six months or more increased from 160,000 from July to August. There are 10.7 percent of people who would like to have a full time job but
are unable to do so. Due to unavailability of working positions.

It does not matter if you have a college degree under your belt. College graduates this year are also experiencing the highest unemployment rate since 2004 with 2.7 percent. Meanwhile, 9.6 percent of high school graduates are unemployed and this figure is also highest rate since 1996.

Most of the job losses are in the manufacturing sector, which lost 61,000 jobs this year. In the manufacturing industry, Miami Herald cited 20 percent of job loss even though the export numbers are increasing.

Even though the pay or salary is increasing, a 3.6 percent increase compared to 2007 salary, it is insufficient compared to the fast rate of increase in the prices of primary commodities. The consumers’ buying power is still low. Food and beverage costs are 5.8 percent higher than 2007.

For those who were left employed and thanking their lucky stars, there is still a hitch. Companies are already cutting the health coverage for their employees. Currently, $694 and $3,281, respectively, according to the most recent data by the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Economic recession is an event which is very difficult for everybody. Hopefully, the real economic status will be recognized immediately to be properly addressed and solve.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, feel free to visit my latest venture: GVO to claim your $1 trial membership!

Far-Reaching Economic Recession

Tuesday, January 19th, 2010

In mid-2008, we might be facing an economic recession in global proportions. There are important factors that caused this economic slowdown. These include the high oil prices which will lead to high prices of food. Since food production is dependent on the production process and transportation process on oil. This will be combined with the credit crisis and an increase in unemployment.

As early as January of 2008, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) already predicted that global economic growth will decline. It would be greatly affected by the United Stated Economy.

The IMF mentioned that the economic recession in the United States will be affected greatly by the financial market conditions and the continuing correction in the U.S. housing market. IMF predicted that the United States will have a mild recession in 2008 but will recover, although modest, in 2009.

Meanwhile, global growth would achieve little recovery in 2009, there is a 25 percent chance that the global economy would record 3 percent or less of growth in 2008 and 2009. This is already like saying that the world will encounter a recession.

United Nations has also predicted the same thing to happen. According to UN, the world economy growth was remarkable in 2007. There are more than 100 economies tat reported to have an increase of 3 percent. Meanwhile, developing countries are also showing promises. The economic growth average in developing countries was almost 70 percent.

Think about what you’ve read so far. Does it reinforce what you already know about Economic Recession? Or was there something completely new? What about the remaining paragraphs?

But UN Conference on Trade and Development stated that there is clear disaster or danger for the world economy to standstill in 2008. The UN report stated that this economic standstill will hit many poor nations and would definitely end the boom in economic growth.

The United States economic decline on 2008 will greatly affect the global economy. Being one of the largest economy in the world. Some reckless practices has brought the looming recession in the United States; no down payment, no verification of income/ assets/ jobs, interest rate mortgages, negative amortization, and teaser rates. Approximately 50 to 60 percent of the loans made in the banks were done through these reckless practices.

Economic recessions are not only distinct in the United States. European countries are also getting affected by economic slowdown. Denmark was confirmed to be in a recession. The economic growth in Denmark declined by 0.6 percent in the first quarter of the year. While Estonia and Latvia both entered recession in the second quarter of the year. While Sweden showed zero growth in the second water of 2008.

The British economy is also being hit by rising oils prices and credit crisis. Telltale signs that the British economy is entering recession, when the housing market fell in 2007. In the next quarter, the housing market went down twice its former figure. Currently the economic growth in United Kingdom is zero. This would be next to the negative economic growth that happened in second quarter of 1992. The current slowdown has ended 16 years of continuous economic growth, the longest period of economic expansion in Britain since the 19th century.

Economic crisis is also happening in New Zealand whose economy’s growth declined by 0.3 percent. Meanwhile in Australia, consumer confidence fell into a 16 year low economic growth in July. South Africa is being warned that it will enter a recession by this year. Japan has experienced a drop in economic growth, the first time in five years. Meanwhile, Canada’s economic growth has shrank in the first quarter of the year.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, feel free to visit my latest acquisition: Free Google Traffic System and make sure to visit my bonus site!

How Can You Survive During an Economic Recession

Monday, January 4th, 2010

An economic slowdown can happen at any time so you should be prepared for it. Here a few tips so you don’t get caught with your pants down until things get better.

1. If you are in debt, get out as quickly as possible. If you need help, see if you can consult with a financial adviser who can help set your budget for you.

2. You should also switch your bills to cheaper services. This includes electricity, gas, mobile phone, television broadband packages, insurance and maybe even your bank account.

3. There should also be cuts in daily spending. If you buy a lot in the grocery, see to it that you finish whatever there is first before you decide to replenish it. If there are items in promo, buy them instead of what you buy usually because they could be just as good or even better than what you are used to getting.

4. See if you can get free samples. This may sound silly but you are sure to find a few every time you visit the grocery. You can also cut out some vouchers in magazines and then redeem it on your next visit.

5. For those who go to work, instead of going out and having lunch, make it at home then bring it with you to the office. This includes coffee which you can put in a flask if there isn’t any being offered.

6. You should also conserve on energy by lowering your electricity bills and fuel costs. Perhaps you can ask your boss if you can work at home two or three times a week. If this is not possible, see if you can carpool with someone from the office.

If you base what you do on inaccurate information, you might be unpleasantly surprised by the consequences. Make sure you get the whole Economic Recession story from informed sources.

7. If you own a large vehicle, perhaps it is time to sell it or trade it in for a smaller one because of better mileage.

8. As for your electricity, see if you can change your light bulbs to those with lower wattage. Perhaps you can also put your heater down by one degree, reinsulated the place or stop drafts coming from the windows and doors.

9. Reducing your expenses are not the only ways to survive an economic recession. You can also make money by selling some stuff in a garage sale or renting out a spare room if there is someone out there who needs a place to stay.

10. If you work in an industry that gets badly hit when cash is tight, perhaps it is time to switch to another career that is more stable.

11. Since that will take some time and you will have to go to school for awhile, you can also engage in some other business on the side like bake cookies or sell some of your vegetables in your garden. Everyone has a niche so you just have to know what it is.

12. The last thing you can do to survive an economic recession is to take advantage of the situation. If you have the money, invest in long term investments so you can sell it when the economy has improved.

An economic recession is a fact of life and this often lasts for months, which is why it is better to be prepared. You should remember that your ability to stay financially stable is the only way you can deal with a potential loss of income and also inflated prices.

Sometimes it’s tough to sort out all the details related to this subject, but I’m positive you’ll have no trouble making sense of the information presented above.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, feel free to visit my latest acquisition: Free Google Traffic System and make sure to visit my bonus site!

What to Watch Out for During Economic Recession

Friday, January 1st, 2010

When you think about Economic Recession, what do you think of first? Which aspects of Economic Recession are important, which are essential, and which ones can you take or leave? You be the judge.

Economic recession may be normal occurrence but it does not mean that it cannot hurt you. In Economics, recession refers to the period in a country’s economy when there is slowing down of progress and rising inflation rates. Like a cycle, a country’s economy is sometimes up and sometimes down. We just don’t feel it before because the economy oftentimes bounces back fast. It is only now that recovery seems so slow and damage has become far-reaching with the crashes in the real estate industry as well as to the banking and insurance sectors.

So what makes an economic recession? What do you need to know about it and what is it all about?

1. Rising costs of living
Because of the slowing down of the economy, production will not be as active. This stems from the lesser demand that comes from the consumers. When this happens, prices will rise as there will be lesser products in the market than before. Basic commodities will usually rise especially those that people consider as basic necessities such as food, shelter and home. Oftentimes, what you will normally be able to buy for a specific amount money will not be as many. This is when we say that the value of the money lessened.

2. Job cuts
During recession, many companies will suffer from cash flow problems. Because of the lesser demand, more and more companies will shut down their production lines to cut costs. This leads to cutting off jobs just to make both ends meet. Right now, many companies in the United States have already done job cuts. Although it does not sound good, these companies do not really have a choice as often, they will need to let go of some employees to keep the company running and still employ the others.

The information about Economic Recession presented here will do one of two things: either it will reinforce what you know about Economic Recession or it will teach you something new. Both are good outcomes.

3. Expense cuts
Because people do not have much money in their pockets, most of them will be scrimping on their expenses. They will only buy things that they need. Some do this because they want to save their money while others do this because they don’t really have a choice, having a much lower income than before. This however contributes to the economic recession as low demand will also lead to low supply which can affect company earnings. When this happens, jobs may become at risk and companies may suffer from financial losses.

4. political turmoil
Although it is not often the case, most countries suffering from economic recession will have political turmoil. This is especially true if the country has not responded to the economic recession well and the situation has ballooned 10 times over. When this happens, people will naturally blame the people in the government and their policies. This is the time when people troop to the streets to protest or they announce their displeasure through surveys on job approval ratings of government officials.

5. Tax cuts
Because of lesser income and less value for your money, the government tries to augment people’s financial problems and also to help companies by giving people more money that they can spend on basic goods. They do this by giving back to their people a portion of their income? tax cuts.

In this instance, the government is cutting off the income that they get from people in order to stabilize the economy during economic recession.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, feel free to visit my latest acquisition: Free Google Traffic System and make sure to visit my bonus site!

What Economic Recession is all About

Sunday, December 27th, 2009

Economic recession is gripping the United States right now and people just don’t know what to do about it. In truth, economic recession isn’t something new anymore. In fact, it has been happening all through out the decades. People don’t just know about it because it has not been as widely publicized as now. This is perhaps because of the ongoing political race between the Republican and the Democrat. And mayhap also because, the country has never experienced such downturn in economy than now, with losses in the real estate, banking and insurance sectors.

Economic recession is actually a term used to refer to the slowing down or downturn of the economy after a period of upturn. You can better picture it with a cycle that often turns. Economy is sometimes rosy and bullish but after a period of progress, it will slow down and become bearish as what they use in the stock market.

The cycle of economy

Often, economic recession is not a problem as the government’s financial sectors have solutions for it. One of the most common is tax cuts where the government gives up a portion of their income and gives it back to the people so that they will have money to buy goods. When consumerism becomes good again, companies who lost a lot of money during the period of downturn and low demand will regain their losses. This will lead to the hiring of new people and increasing their production. More supply in the market will lead to lower prices which will hopefully encourage higher demand for products. Thus, ending the recession.

You can see that there’s practical value in learning more about Economic Recession. Can you think of ways to apply what’s been covered so far?

Easier said than done

It is however easier said than done. Sometimes even with tax cuts, the government cannot balance the economy. This is especially true if the country do not have much budget to augment the situation or if there have been occurrences that are outside their control.

For instance, the problems in the real estate industry and near bankruptcy of a lending firm associated with properties are not exactly brought on alone by economic recession. Problems in the company way way back have contributed to its losses, only aggravated by the current economic situation. The same goes with the problems two major banks in the United States is experiencing right now and also the losses that are beginning to show from the portfolio of a multinational insurance and financial firm.

All these are not all the fault of economic recession. However, what is happening to their company is made much worse by the economic downturn as people will not spend as much. Because of the hard times, some will not also be able to pay their loans or pay off their mortgages like before. If a company has a solid money background, it will not matter as its assets can absorb the losses. Unfortunately, if a company is already suffering from problems even before economic recession can make it bankrupt.

Although economic recession is basically something that happens to a country, individuals are affected not only in the country where it is happening but also worldwide. This is especially true if the company has interest worldwide or the currency is being used all over the world. There is however not much that people can do except take a calming breath and just take one day at a time, hoping it will all come to an end soon.

That’s how things stand right now. Keep in mind that any subject can change over time, so be sure you keep up with the latest news.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, feel free to visit my latest acquisition: Free Adsense eBook and make sure to claim your free adsense ebook download!

Teaching Your Kids to Save During Recession

Saturday, November 7th, 2009

Economic recession is taking its toll. A lot of Americans right now are feeling the heat of the tight times as more and more people are losing their jobs and losing their homes. High prices of gas and basic commodities are also making it harder for American families to survive without additional income.

During these times, people are thinking of ways on how to save up. This is especially true with families that support one or two or more children. Between feeding them and sending them all to school, these families will surely have to scrimp on some areas in order to survive.

But parents should not be the only ones who should be scrimping. When it comes to saving money during economic recession, their children can also play important roles. In fact, they can use these tight times to teach them children about saving for the future and saving money. This will help them deal with tighter times in the future should they experience it when they have families of their own. Below are some of the ways that you can teach your children about saving up.

1. Explain to them
You may not realize it but kids do know what is going on and when you explain the situation to them clearly and with examples that they can relate to, they will be able to understand you. Some will even help out on their own volition without you telling them what they have to do.

Is everything making sense so far? If not, I’m sure that with just a little more reading, all the facts will fall into place.

Telling them why they should do something is more effective than telling them outright what they should do. The latter will sometimes antagonize them or will cause them to rebel as they feel that you are ordering them about without any reason. Kids, as you well know, do not want to be bossed about.

2. Give them piggy banks.
Having coin banks may seem outdated in this digital age but it is nevertheless still effective in teaching kids how to save up. Tell them that saving up will allow them to have some money should they need to buy something that they want. A portion of their lunch money, for instance a quarter or two, is a good way to start.

Of course, do not discourage them to buy food when they need to eat but tell them though that if they are not hungry, they can save the money so that they can use more for the next day.

3. Get what they need
Controlling what they put on their plates during dinner will help control the urge to get more than they can use. Ask them to clean their plates every time. That way, they will only get the food that they will be able to eat. This will teach them about saving and buying only the things that they need. This is a great training in the future so that they will not grow up with maxed out credit cards, buying things that they do not really need in the first place.

4. Being a role model
Face it. Whatever your child does is only a reflection of what you yourself are doing at home. So if you want the kids to start saving up, make sure that you are also doing your part in saving in this times of economic recession.

Hopefully the sections above have contributed to your understanding of Economic Recession. Share your new understanding about Economic Recession with others. They’ll thank you for it.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, owner of this excellent site: Product Profits Club (click to claim your FREE membership)

Collateral Damage: Suicide and Economic Recession

Saturday, October 24th, 2009

Imagine the next time you join a discussion about Economic Recession. When you start sharing the fascinating Economic Recession facts below, your friends will be absolutely amazed.

Economic recession and depressions are well known to bring about depression and suicidal risks. There are stories of businessmen jumping out of windows following the stock-market crash of 1929.

Unknown to many, people who commits suicide in the wake of economic recessions and financial crises are not individuals with pre-existing mental illnesses. They are commonly middle-aged men in the verge of debt and bankruptcy.

About sixty percent of suicides in 2006 (worldwide) happen in the Asia Pacific region. In Japan, Sri Lanka, and some parts of China report that more than 20 out of 100,000 citizens kill themselves each year. More than twice as many in Australia and New Zealand.

It is also relatively higher in places where it is culturally accepted like in Japan and India. When several countries in Asia- Pacific were hit by an economic crisis in mid- 1990s, there was a relative increase in the number of suicides among middle-aged men. This group were said to be the most affected group by the economic recession.

Aside from economic factors being a reason for suicide, it also has to do something with the Asian values in terms of shame and humiliation not being able to provide for the family.

In Asian culture, loss of face or shame is take more seriously than it is in Western culture. In Japan, there are samurais that took their own lives to avoid disgrace after a defeat. They call this tradition hara-kiri. There are some corporate executives who have done the hara-kiri tradition in the eve of an economic decline. A stretch of forest in Mount Fuji is called ?the suicide forest? due to dozens of bodies retrieved from it every year.

Economic recession has great effects on the youth and children, poverty and financial difficulties have pushed them towards suicide. In Israel in 2003, a 15 year old killed himself when their electricity has been cut. In the suicide note, the teen-ager mentioned that he does not want to be a burden for his mother who raised him as a single parent.

In the Philippines back in 2007, an 11 year old girl ended her life because of poverty. In her suicide note, she wished that her parents will have a stable job and that her siblings would be able to go to school regularly. This incident drew attention towards the poverty programs the government has in the country.

If you base what you do on inaccurate information, you might be unpleasantly surprised by the consequences. Make sure you get the whole Economic Recession story from informed sources.

Governments and concerned institutions globally are taking steps to address this issue.

An example would be the steps being undertaken by the Japanese government. Some new measures are changing work patterns to allow more flexibility and funding early detection and treatment programs.

The Japanese government are also providing better mental health counselling at the workplace, networks of community psychiatrists and public campaigns to raise the awareness of the problem. Telephone hot line services are also readily available. There is a new software being developed to filter out websites that promote group suicides.
Australia, in Asia-Pacific, is the first country to initiate the prevention of web based suicide groups.

Aside from government efforts, there are personal ways you can do to help a suicidal person:

1. A suicidal person is carrying a burden that they can’t handle anymore. Listening is important.

2. Be sympathetic, non- judgemental, patient, calm and understanding.

3. Avoid trying to offer quick solutions by belittling the person’s feelings.

4. Dealing with a suicide threat is stressful. Seek assistance o decompress afterwards.

5. If personal efforts fails, don’t blame yourself. It is the person’s choice. It is wise to ask for grief counselling and suicide survivor support groups.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, feel free to visit my latest venture: GVO to claim your $1 trial membership!

Road Sign Ahead: Signs of Economic Recession

Friday, October 23rd, 2009

The following article lists some simple, informative tips that will help you have a better experience with Economic Recession.

An economic recession is defined by a negative growth in gross domestic product for two consecutive quarters. In other words, the gross domestic products are decreasing in production. Recession is a national or world even regional event.

Economic recession lasts from six months until a year or two, which could be the worst time frame for a recession. Based on the experience of the United States with its last three recessions, the labor- market recession would last between three to four years. (Schmitt and Baker, 2008) with the actual recession only happening for more than a year and a half. The effects of a recession could be felt longer than the actual span of the recession itself.

There are several telltale signs that a nation or region is experiencing economic recession. MarketWatch lists seven things to watch out for to be full-warned for an economic recession event.

Accoding to MarketWatch, it is important to look at the increase of interest rates in the credit market. Lenders are tightening lending policies because of market troubles. Companies not making any profits is another sign of a recession.
Skyrocketing oil prices are also indicators of a recession. Oil prices have big effect on the economy, especially if the economy is experiencing little growth. Oil is not the only one increasing their prices. Prices of essential commodities are
also increasing. But the stocks and property prices are going down but nobody is purchasing them.

Housing problems and foreclosures are also clear indicators. Foreclosures happen when people and consumers are unable to pay mortgage and finance homes. Borrowers are failing to pay back loans for homes, vehicles, businesses and credit cards. Even banks and credit unions are missing out payments for their financial obligations due to borrowers unable to repay their loans.

There is also a relative increase of people truing to pay their bills with credit cards. Credit card purchase is increasing. This means that people are having problems paying cash. Using credit card to pay for loans despite excessive interest rate shows desperation.

See how much you can learn about Economic Recession when you take a little time to read a well-researched article? Don’t miss out on the rest of this great information.

Consumer spending or making sure that the money from the consumers return to the economy is also something to check. Government intervention in economic crisis resulting to fruitless efforts can also be a warning.

There is also a relative increase of unemployed people. During an event of a recession, companies tend to release workers due to low production demand. Low production demand means lesser income for the company owners. Companies and firms are then obliged to release employees to reach the target income. For the last seven years, unemployment has been rising steadfast in the United States. Overall employment, which is still high is historical terms, is declining since the start of 2008.

So how can ordinary people foresee recession?

AOL listed some interesting real life indicators that we are experiencing economic recession. People are stealing not only the whole car but different car parts from vehicles in parking lots. An example is a catalytic converter, which helps the car’s emissions. Meanwhile, inside retail stores, lesser people are shopping for merchandises. They are now opting for wholesale store membership.

Personal and family affairs, like weddings, are also being regulated in terms of guests and food. While corporations are cutting back on country club memberships and out of town travels.

Car companies are having difficulties getting buyers even with lots of incentives. Suddenly, the most popular restaurants in town does not have any waiting list at all. Small and local business are closing because they can’t keep up with the expenditure.

There can be countless ways of figuring out if a nation is suffering from a setback like an economic recession. But if these signs can be immediately detected and can give us a hint on our economic and financial future, then we should be better learn how to read the signs. Or we might not have the future.

Is there really any information about Economic Recession that is nonessential? We all see things from different angles, so something relatively insignificant to one may be crucial to another.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, feel free to visit my latest venture: GVO to claim your $1 trial membership!

Defining an Economic Recession

Saturday, October 17th, 2009

Do you ever feel like you know just enough about Economic Recession to be dangerous? Let’s see if we can fill in some of the gaps with the latest info from Economic Recession experts.

The United States has been experiencing economic recession since early of the year 2008. Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania are also at risk of facing economic recession for the next 12 months. While Canada, Britain and Japan may foresee a recession in their economy in the future.

With all this recession risks, ordinary people, could not help but wonder what exactly is an economic recession.

The economic cycle is that when an economy is strong, people are employed and earning. There will be a great demand for outputs like food, electronics, vehicles and other products. The production will increase until it exceeds the actual demand. This would create a rise in prices or inflation.

Salary would then have difficulty accommodating the rising prices of products. The prices will be too expensive for consumers, that they will stop buying or sales would not increase. When the demand decreases, companies will lay off workers creating a large population of unemployed work force.

These are several signs of an economic recession. Decline in housing prices, decline in the stock market, and business expansion plans being put on hold are also signs of a recession.

According to the United States National Bureau of Economic Research, it is “a significant decline in economic activity spread across the economy, lasting more than a few months, normally visible in real GDP, real income, employment, industrial production, and wholesale-retail sales.”

If you base what you do on inaccurate information, you might be unpleasantly surprised by the consequences. Make sure you get the whole Economic Recession story from informed sources.

Economic recession is a contraction phase of the business cycle. The common definition for recession is that there is a relative decline in a country’s gross domestic product or GDP. Having a negative real economic growth for two or more successive quarters is also a telltale sign for economic recession.

Gross domestic product is the market value of all the products and services produced in a region or commonly, country, in a year. GDP is the total output of the economy. GDP is measured every quarter. Since the gross domestic product or the output is declining. There is less need for people who are creating the product. Firms and companies will sever their ties with several employees resulting to unemployment.

A severe or long recession could be an economic depression. The difference between recession and depression is when the GDP is declining by 10%, that means what the economy is experiencing is already depression. A short ?lived recession is often called economic correction.

Based on the definition of the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), recession can last ?more than a few months.? Therefore, an official announcement that a country or region is experiencing recession can only be made after economic decline for six months. Typically, a normal economic recession lasts for approximately one year.

Periodic recessions are part of a country’s or region’s economy. According to Tom Harris (How Recession Works), the United States has an economic pattern. The United States economy will expand for six until ten years and then enter a recession for about six months or two years. The start of the recession is called the peak, end of recession if trough. Meanwhile the period of time between two peaks or two recessions is called the business cycle.

NBER, a private, non profit research organization studies the American economy. The Business Cycle Dating Committee maintains the chronology of business cycle. They also decides whether the economy is in recession or expansion

Economists may argue with the definition of an economic recession. They may even debate whether the United States, specifically is experiencing an economic downturn. But it is not only the economists who can decide and identify an economic downfall, it is the ordinary people who can readily identify economic growth and demise.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, feel free to visit my latest venture: GVO to claim your $1 trial membership!

Redundant Women: The Effects of Economic Recession on Women

Thursday, October 15th, 2009

Economic recession is defined to be a period of time (two consecutive quarters) where there is dismal or negative growth in an economy of a specific region or country. Economic recession has different effects on each sector of a nation. A particular sector could experience an impact that could distinctive only in his or her sector.

Women comprises half of the world’s population. During recessions, there is a relative downturn on women’s employment that ever before. Before the United States’ recession in 2001, women were not greatly affected by the economic recession. However, after the 2001 recession in the United States, omen started losing a lot of jobs.

Women also experience low employment rates. Families rely on women’s employment to boost the family income during a recession. According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics:

1. When women lose jobs, families lose a substantial share of the income. Women salaries are said to be one third of the whole family budget.

2. Over the past 30 years, families who have a working wife have seen real increases in family income.

3. During the 2001 recession, women were hit harder by unemployment than men.

4. After the recession of 2001, women were able to get back to their jobs but where unable to gain or experience any increase in their employment rates.

Most of this information comes straight from the Economic Recession pros. Careful reading to the end virtually guarantees that you’ll know what they know.

5. Women are said to be harder hit by the 2008 recession since women are disproportionately represented in state and local government services.

Women are also greatly affected by job losses during economic recession. Women are said to be the last person to be hired, but the last person to be fired. Unlike women, men shows stable numbers since United States had experienced the economic recession

Between March 2001 and August 2004, women lost jobs in a number of key industries. Women lost 347,000 jobs in information alone. In retail industries, women lost 367,000 jobs. The biggest lost will be in the manufacturing industry which cost women over a million jobs. These numbers are just in the United States alone.

Unemployment rate among adult women workers rise faster compared to men workers. From 3.8 percent in March 2007 it went up to 4.6 percent in March 2008. There is also a significant effect on the wage of women compared to men. Women’s wages are more unstable than men’s wages.

Women have the tendency or risk of seeing large drops in income than men do. It has been culturally imbedded (based on gender analysis of events) that women’s income just fill in the disparity of men’s wage in terms of providing for the family. Thus women’s wage not being a major source of funds is more at risk of deduction.

In developing countries, women are facing poverty brought about by economic recession blowing out of proportions. With lack of work opportunities and immense poverty, women are forced to enter into prostitution and white slavery.

When economic recession hit in Asia in mid- 1997, women was the hardest hit by the crisis. Many women who have entered these industries come from rural areas because they could no longer sustain themselves and their families. Because of the recession, a lot of employees were released from their work. Women, carrying the burden of providing for their families were provided no other options.

Southeast Asian countries were deeply affected by the financial crisis and were left with social scars. Whenever economic recession or crisis similar to this happens, women and children bear the scars.

Hopefully the sections above have contributed to your understanding of Economic Recession. Share your new understanding about Economic Recession with others. They’ll thank you for it.

About the Author
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