Longest recession since 1930s ended in June 2009, group says

The L.A. Times reports:

The longest U.S. recession since the Great Depression ended in June 2009, lasting 18 months, the National Bureau of Economic Research said.

"The committee decided that any future downturn of the economy would be a new recession and not a continuation of the recession that began in December 2007," the Cambridge, Mass.-based bureau's business cycle dating group said Monday. "The basis for this decision was the length and strength of the recovery to date." The committee is the accepted arbiter of when recessions start and end.