Quote:
Originally Posted by Toymeister
The definition of recession, two quarters of negative growth, was established in 1974 by the bureau of labor statistics. That definition has stood 48 years until a week ago when, for political spin, it suddenly was not the definition (sarcasm off).
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That is merely a simplification of what was actually said:
In 1974 the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics Julius Shiskin suggested that a rough translation of the bureau's qualitative definition of a recession into a quantitative one that almost anyone can use might run like this:
In terms of duration—declines in real G.N.P. for 2 consecutive quarters; a decline in industrial production over a six‐month period.
In terms of depth—A 1.5 per cent decline in real G.N.P.; a 15 per cent decline non-agricultural employment; a two‐point rise in unemployment to a level of at least 6 percent.
In terms of diffusion—A decline in non-agricultural employment in more than 75 per cent of industries, as measured over six‐month spans, for 6 months or longer.